Vote for Joel Pollak

I consider myself a patriot. I love this country and am proud to call myself an American. I want to see America remain strong and free… and continue to be the leader of the free world. As President Reagan once put it, America as a ‘shining city on a hill’. (Please… no lectures about the source of that quote.) Indeed it is a shining city –‘a light unto the nations’. (Please… no lectures about the source of that quote either.)

I generally consider myself an independent when it comes to politics. Although on most issues I tilt rightward, I often will take what some consider a leftward tilt on certain issues. I have supported and voted for both Republicans and Democrats over the years based on my own criteria and not necessarily on whether they were conservative or liberal.

My number one priority when it comes to candidate support is their attitude towards the Jewish people and the State of Israel. There are some who might question my patriotism because of that. But the two are not mutually exclusive. One can be a strong supporter of Israel and still be a patriot. Was American Colonel David Daniel "Mickey" Marcus - a Jew – any less of a patriot when he went to Israel and became their first general during their war of independence? Are Christian Zionists less patriotic when they support Israel more than most Jews do?

Should anyone ask who I would support in the unlikely scenario when the welfare of the Jewish people came into conflict with the welfare of the United States, I must admit that I am a Jew first. And I would fight for the welfare of the Jewish people first. We are one people. Orthodox, Reform Conservative, secular or religious undivided and beloved of God. Thank God I have never had to make that choice and probably never will. Thank God the very soul of United States of America is its religious tolerance – unlike any other nation in the world today… or ever!

This is all a preamble to my endorsement of Joel Pollak for congress. He is the Republican candidate for the ninth congressional district in Illinois, my district. He is running against 10 term incumbent, Jan Schakowsky a political liberal. Pollak is a political conservative with very Jewish credentials. He is an Orthodox Jew who is not embarrassed to show it. He wears a Kipa in public and if one looks at any of his political TV ads it can easily be seen.

The clip above is one of the few Mr. Pollak produced – all of which were positive and not the kind of ‘attack ads’ used by other politicians. I chose this particular clip because it shows his wife, Julia, a former South African whose mother was a part of Nelson Mandella’s government. It is about 30 seconds long and well worth a look.

It is a tribute to the Republican Party that they chose this individual as their candidate. It is irrelevant to them that their candidate is Orthodox. They see a brilliant young man whose ideology reflects theirs and that is the man they chose. To say that his campaign is a Kiddush HaShem is an understatement.

And I can think of no more pro Israel candidate than Joel Pollak. His views are politically conservative and in my view that is what is needed right now in this county. I am not going to go into great detail as to why. But in a general I agree with his opposition to the economic policies of the current administration… policies that include ‘stealing’ from the rich to give to the poor. Tax cuts for only the middle class tax do not incentivize American industry towards production of goods and services that will create new jobs. Tax incentives - on the other hand - will do that.

Make-work government projects don’t do that. Those jobs are temporary at best, cost the taxpayers a fortune, and don’t produce a single product. Jan Schakowsky is a big supporter of the President’s economic policies. She is on board with the President’s vilification of ‘Big Business’. This attitude promotes caricatures of CEOs of large American companies as greedy profiteers who don’t care about the little guy.

She believes in ‘fairness’ which is ‘liberalspeak’ for re-distribution of the wealth via taxation. That is nothing more than forced charity. It sounds fair but in fact it is counterproductive. It incentivizes no business to invest capital in their businesses. They would rather sit on their capital than invest it in a ‘down’ economy. The result? No new jobs.

One of the most important things about Joel Pollak is that he is not Jan Schakowsky who is rated the most liberal politician in congress. And when it comes to Israel and the Jewish people I would rather see someone whose religious values are closer to mine. Joel Pollak is a religious Jew. He is far closer to my Jewish values than a nominally Jewish woman who has intermarried out of the faith. That she married a non Jew tells me that she places very little value on her Judaism.

What about her support of Israel? She is supported by J-Street. They are of the ‘Blame Israel First’ mentality. She was an early supporter of the President when he announced his candidacy and walks in lockstep with his policy on Israel. Although she does have a good voting record on Israel, her support of the President on this issue shows that her support for Israel clearly lags far behind that of Joel Pollak.

To me it is no brainer. He is right for America and right for Israel. He is also supported by political libertarian Alan Dershowitz. Mr. Dershowitz went out of his way and flew to Chicago to endorse Joel.

Joel Pollak is very bright. He is a Harvard educated young man who will make a fine representative of our heavily Jewish district. I’m so tired of J-Street type Jews like Schakowsky claiming they support Israel when every word out of their mouth could just have easily come out of the mouths of a Palestinian.

It’s an uphill battle for Joel. Schakowsky refuses to debate him. With the exception of the heavily Orthodox portion of West Rogers Park, the 9th district -although heavily Jewish – is very heavily liberal. Schakowski has always won her elections with commanding numbers. She currently out-polls Joel. But for the first time in her political career her polling numbers are below 50%. This means a lot of people are as of yet undecided. So as unlikely as it may seem, it is possible that the current anti incumbency mood of the country may in fact pull off a political miracle for Joel.

Though most of my readership in Chicago will very likely vote for him, I cannot emphasize enough the importance of actually voting in this off year election. Schakowsky’s voters may become complacent because of her poll numbers and skip this one. And there is also ‘throw the rascals out’ mood of the country. Independents who swung heavily Democrat in 2008 are swinging Republican now according to most polls.

These are all important factors. Is there a chance for an upset? You never know. But one thing is for sure, every vote for Joel is an important one. If he wins, it will be good for our district, good for America, good for Israel , and a big Kiddush HaShem.

This Tuesday, November 2nd is Election Day.

Achieving a Goal by Destroying Some Lives

My Rebbe, Rav Ahron Soloveichik- a Baal Chesed par excellence - must be turning over in his grave. Jews are supposed to be Rachmanim Bnei Rachmanim - a very merciful people. But the officials at Beis Yaakov high school in Jerusalem (BJJ for short - but not affiliated with Rebbetzin David’s BJJ) seem to be falling a bit short on that.

A blogger known a Jameel reported on his blog The Muqata, that 9 girls from that school were expelled. The expulsion was immediate. What was their crime? They were in possession of a banned item - a cell phone that included texting.

They were caught because one of them had received a text message about a friend who had just gotten engaged and had excitedly jumped up and announced that to her class. The teacher realized that the only way she could know that is if she received the information via a text message. The teacher called the principal who proceeded to confiscate her phone and search the caller IDs to see who else in that school was texting and then summarily expelled all of them.

Most people who read this blog know my attitude about these kinds of bans. I believe they are wrong at so many levels and counterproductive to boot. I am not going to go into detail why here. It is beyond the scope of this post.

The truth is that any school has the right to impose any rules it wants – no matter how stupid those rules are. Parents that choose to send their kids must abide by the rules. Parents and students will know that if the rules are not followed they will suffer the consequences. If it is made clear that a specific offence is punishable by expulsion, then technically the school had every right to expel those kids.

But that is the Midas HaDin. In terms of pure justice - the ‘letter of the law’ was followed. But it was not the Midas HaRachamim. Justice was not tempered with mercy. In my view that is not justice at all. We are supposed to follow both those attributes of God. Not just one.

Justifiable or not -what BJJ did was inexcusable. In fact the very establishment of such consequences is inexcusable even if the rule itself is not (although I think banning cellphones is not the best way to handle the problem).

I understand the problem and why they did it. They feel that the end of the world is near via this new technology. They see it as the biggest single danger to Judaism. A hand held device that can access the worst porn in an instant without anyone being the wiser will destroy Neshmos. This has been shown to be the case as was recently reported in a Mishpacha article I wrote about.

Rabbinic leaders say that it has and will continue to be extremely harmful if harsh measures aren’t established to deal with it. While I generally agree with their assessment of the dangers, I completely disagree with the measures they use to combat it.

As is always the case in these circles, they believe isolating their young from the outside world is the best way to handle it. The deeper the isolation - the better. Banning an item that provides easy access to that world and severely punishing violators is their method of dealing with it. But as I have said in the past - that will not solve the problem. As this incident shows, there are far too many decent girls honoring this ban in the breach. Rabbinic leaders will not stop the avalanche of technology bombarding the entire world from permeating their walls by simply banning it. They are spitting in the wind.

And let’s not make any mistake about it. These are all decent girls. There is no indication that any of them are anywhere near being OTD or even at risk of it. They just did what many teenagers do and broke some rules that they didn’t think were so bad. And now their lives have just been ruined.

I assume one reason that BJJ did this was to make examples out of them. It sends the message that even good girls aren’t going to get away with it. They are dead serious about prohibiting any possibility of this ‘stumbling block’ from entering their turf.

Well that may instill the fear of God into any future student who might be thinking of violating that rule – although I doubt it will fully work. But even if it does - at what price? In those circles their Shidduch chances are ruined. The type of Shiduchim they are looking for will now never give them the time of day. How many young men who learn in Brisk or Mir would consider dating a girl who was expelled from BJJ? And those are the only kinds of young men these girls are indoctrinated to seek! (Another stupidity - but I digress.)

I am appalled at what happened here. If I were part of that student body I would call for a full boycott of the school by every student with a goal of having those girls reinstated – even if it meant they were all going to be expelled. I would ask that all parents join in a massive protest in front of the school and call the media to make sure it gets the public attention. I would hope that every decent and fair minded parent of any stripe - religious or secular - in Israel would join in solidarity with this school and make their voices heard.

BJJ may think justice has been served but it has not. It has been perverted. If any of these girls go OTD or even have a hard time getting married– they will have contributed to it by destroying their reputations.

This is what happens in extreme societies. If there are masses of their members that flee from it, it is certainly understandable why. BJJ ought to reconsider these expulsions and act like the Bnei Rachmanim they are supposed to be. Because right now they guilty of a ‘crime’ far worse than those students are.


Update(10/31/10): The picture above is not necessarily of any of the girls in the story. It was taken from Jameel’s blog. It is however a picture of three girls in obvious distress... the same kind of distress the girls who were expelled are going through and might easily have looked like. I apologize for not making this clear until now.

New Update(11/2/10): This version of events reported in this post has been disputed by a parent who has a daughter in that very class. Her post is located here.

The Making of a Charedi Lite

Although the conventional off-thederech phenomenon is far too complex to allow us to point to one specific cause for all children who leave the fold, experts have isolated several common causes: learning disabilities, social handicaps, unstable family environments, physical or emotional abuse, and overly harsh or overzealous chinuch. In short, when children associate Torah or Yiddishkeit with pain or negativity,they may eventually rebel against the fundamental principles of their upbringing.

The above was taken from an article in last week’s in Mishpacha Magazine which I excerpted from a VIN PDF file. It deals with a new wrinkle on the ‘Kids at Risk’ phenomenon. The experts mentioned in the excerpt are Charedi. And it is quite an admission on their part to realize that some of the problem lies (at least in part) in their very own overzealous Chinuch system. This - they say - has been corrected in recent years and the at risk phenomenon has peaked and lessened somewhat. At least in its overt form.

What this article courageously admits is that a new problem has developed and it is sky rocketing - far exceeding the numbers of openly at risk kids. Charedi Chinuch is increasingly producing children who I can only define as Charedi Lite. They look and act like Charedim and adhere to various Halachos and customs identified with Charedim. But they are in essence spiritually bankrupt.

They observe Halachos for social rather than ideological reasons. And they transgress Halachos as suits there purposes. Cell phone use on Shabbos is but one of many examples of this kind of behavior. They will make all kinds of rationalizations and excuses to ‘permit’ themselves these Aveiros. But as the article points out they have little or no spiritual connection to Judaism at all. And many of these kids come from mainstream Charedi backgrounds.

The article tries to understand this phenomenon and turns to some Charedi leaders to get their perspective. One such perspective is critical of parents who are lax in applying punishments. They claim that these kids never get to associate wrongdoing with the pain of punishment. The result is an aura of permissibility that rewards good behavior but does not punish bad behavior. They say that deep down children crave these guidelines from parents. If they don’t get it, they flounder off into laxity of observance when it becomes inconvenient. I think that argument has some merit.

But the big culprit blamed for all of this is the creeping secular values of western culture – which is in great moral decline - into even the most sheltered of homes. The idea of sheltering a home by keeping the TV or the internet out of it has become a near useless mechanism in preventing that immorality from reaching one’s children. Immorality is everywhere. Billborads today freely display images that used to be consigned to pornographic magazines.

But what’s worse is the ease by which the worst and most immoral images can be seen by any individual without anyone else being the wiser. The sophisticated celllphone is now commonplace and can receive with ease via the internet - the most disgusting images imaginable right in the palm of your hand.

Of course one of the responses of this community is predictable. They insist that even more isolation is necessary. The internal logic is - I suppose - that since conditions are worse than ever more isolation than ever is required. The problem is that it is a virtual impossibility to do that in our day.

In my view they are just digging the hole deeper. They should know by now that insulation isn’t working. It’s like trying to get out of the hole you dug using the same shovel that got you in there and digging in the same direcion . They are digging the hole deeper by not confronting the problem head on. They are simply running away from it. But it has long ago passed them up. The only thing they accomplished is leaving their children to their own devices when they do inevitably encounter it.

I have said this many times before and it bears repeating. There has to be a balance between protecting your child from the hazards of the culture and exposing them to some of it in a healthy way and thereby teaching them how to deal with it. Increasing isolationism just doesn’t work as the sky-rocketing increase of hidden OTD kids demonstrates.

It is true that complete isolation from negative influences would work in a perfect world - if one can be guaranteed never to encounter any negative influences in life. But that’s almost like trying to shelter your children from air. It is just not possible to do.

I am not an expert in this new phenomenon. So my advice should be taken in context. But I have raised children in an imperfect world. They were exposed to the culture. We had a TV in the house and they all watched it all the time. I can tell you that none of my children are ‘Lite’ anything! They were exposed to the culture with heavy doses of religious direction and lots of Hashkafa talks.

It takes a loving parent with firm values to impart them to children. It requires lots of positive reinforcement. And yes, sometimes even punishment – used sparingly. One cannot substitute isolation for values. If values are not transmitted properly in the context of the culture children who will one way or another encounter it are going to deal with it in their own way.

I’m glad to see an acknowledgement of a new problem. But that is only half the solution. And half of a solution is no solution at all.

It’s really all about the home. Children need role models. Parents are the number one role models for them. One has to live the life they preach. If you have a cellphone with the internet - telling your kids how evil it is turns your admonition into a joke. One cannot be a hypocrite – telling their children not to do the things they do themselves. You can’t hide it from them. They know and will emulate you discounting everything you say. The bottom line is to be who you say you are. And to teach by example… and with love and understanding.

One must teach children the proper reactions to the ills of society and the only way they are going to learn what those ills are – is by exposing them to it in limited ways making it a teaching moment. It is far better to expose them under the controlled environment of the home with you there than it is to pretend it doesn’t exist and let them find it by themselves.

Talk to your kids. Have Hashkafa discussions with them. Practice what you preach – and by all means preach it to them. They do need direction and guidance and parents are the right people to give it to them. The one thing to avoid is over-sheltering. That is putting your head in the sand. And that’s a prescription for disaster.

Work? Why Bother?

One of the most inspiring sights in Israel is the Beis HaMedrash in Yeshivas Mir. There are literally thousands of students learning with Hasmada Rabbah and Ameilus. They are tremendously dedicated – diligently toiling to understand their Torah learning in depth and in breadth. It is an amazing sight. There is not an empty seat to be found. I see no faking at all.

There are students sitting everywhere – every nook and cranny is occupied. One can walk into the Beis HaMedrash anytime of day - any day of the week and see the same thing. Except for a lunch break they are always there. And that’s just one building. There are several others like it on the Mir campus.

I mention this in light of a Ynet interview of a Charedi Avreich (picture above - photographed from rear to protect his identity). He paints an entirely different picture of his reality in Kollel. In a courageous interview he spills the beans about what really goes on –and altruistically urges that government stipends stop! Unfortunately he needs to remain anonymous because it would destroy his family. His life and that of his family would be ruined.

I have no reason to doubt his story. He sounds like an honest young man who has seen the truth and wants to dispel the myth. Those who are partisan to the system as it exists may want to challenge him on the facts and suspect him of ulterior motives. I suppose that’s possible. But I see no reason to question his integrity.

As a religious Jew he has a Chezkas Kashrus - a presumption of integrity and therefore Ne’emanus. He should be believed. He is no slacker either. He learns Torah 8 hours a day before returning home to his wife and children. Nor – he says - does he even want to destroy the system.

One might nonetheless still suspect him of some sort of nefarious agenda because it is so against the grain of the conventional wisdom. But he isn’t the only - or the first - one to have made these kinds of observations. What he has done is bear first hand witness to it. I believe him.

How does one explain his testimony in light of what I have personally witnessed every single time I visit the Mir? I’m not sure except to say that a Yeshiva is not a Kollel. It is mostly pre-Kollel. Most of those learning in the Mir are either young and unmarried or early in their marriage. Nor does the sight I see in the Mir take into account those who are ‘enrolled’ but never show up. Or show up very little. And there are other Yeshivos where the scene at the Mir does not exist.

I don’t know how many men in Kollel there are who ‘fake it’. But if one takes a walk in nearby Geula section of Jerusalem one will see tons of young Charedim in the streets at any given time of day doing anything but learning. Some of them may have legitimate reasons for not being in the Beis HaMedrash. But it can’t be as many as I always see when I’m there.

And there is the fact that not every Yeshiva is the Mir.

How many Avreichim are there that do not learn anywhere near what is expected of them. And how many are there that do little or no learning at all? There is no check and balance system. There are for example no tests ever given to these students. They are trusted to fulfill their obligations. It is an honor system. And they are given a stipend from the State. What is it really like? Here is a lengthy excerpt of this man’s testimony. It is damning:

"When the seculars established the State they made every young person go to the army. The haredim refused for two reasons: They didn't want to get killed because of the army and they refused to be subject to a secular society. So the agreement was that everyone would withdraw from society in order to maintain our religiousness and study Torah from morning to evening while the wife provides for the family," he begins his fascinating monologue.

"What happened was that the seculars have been funding the haredim ever since. We must remember that at the time the haredi public was very small and the secular public could still carry them on its back. In Europe there were always 'landlords' who would work and fund the minority who studied and were really prodigies. Today it's different – everyone must study and spend the whole day at the kollel.

"Where did this come from? The State pays, so why not? If there is no financial hardship the community doesn't approve of going out to work… According to an interpretation of the Gemara (oral Jewish Law), those who let us sit in the kollel are to blame. After all, if I go out to work now I'll lose my status in the community. Among the Lithuanians it means taking a risk that your child will not be admitted into a good 'heder' (religious elementary school). Among the Hasidim going to work is customary, but only after many years and in Jewish jobs –a Torah scribe, accompanying children's transportation. But this kind of work is usually not reported to the Tax Authority.

"What happens is that many yeshiva students who don’t really have the ability to sit and study, basically study about one hour a day. This situation is perpetuated, because there are many strong elements in the community who want this circle – in which everyone gets married by the age of 21 or 22 and immediately enters the kollel – will continue.

"It's unthinkable that a yeshiva student would go to work after the wedding. It would simply be a disgrace for the 'shver' (father of the bride). In the haredi world the shver and the father invest tens of thousands of dollars in the couple – I don't know from where. There's a joke that if the shver gives you an apartment, it's like double imprisonment – both a wedding and an imprisonment in the place of Torah study.

"It's also a great disgrace in the eyes of the community members. Almost every haredi person lives in a community – be it the Hasidism or the synagogue, where he spends dozens of hours each month. You can't be different from everyone else. But the claim that most of us study the same is nonsense. Take me for example – I didn't study one hour today. So what do you do? You come in late, you leave early, you go outside a lot to drink coffee.

"You don't study much Gemara. It's mostly a social framework. It's important to say that there are very big scholars, but there are also many who don't really study. Not everyone is capable of sitting down and studying Gemara for hours. You can't go out to work; it's a social norm which simply cannot be broken.

"There are no exams in the kollel. When (United Torah Judaism MK) Gafni says it must be recognized as study hours, he's basically laughing at the State. There are no credit points; you just sit and learn without any supervision. Without exams the progress one makes cannot be checked…

"The seculars are always told that we sit and study. Do you really think everyone studies? It doesn’t make sense. And I'm not the only one. Open the 'Behadrei Hadarim' forum on the internet, for example, and see how many yeshiva students are idle. I live in one of the biggest haredi communities with my wife and small children. Our lifestyle is completely haredi, we have no internet at home – God forbid – and I have never watched TV in my life.

"By the way, the haredi weeklies contribute to the complexity of the problem. They write, 'The secular media incite against the Torah scholars and that is why the High Court had removed the assured income.' But these reporters know that what they are writing is nonsense. Why, if they would study 14 hours a day themselves like they write, they wouldn't be reporters. They put a picture of a place of Torah study and write 'real mighty men' in its caption. In our kollel we laughed about it today, said it's good they didn't take a picture of the coffee maker. I call on the secular public and those who care about the State not to let the politicians give stipends without any limits."

Show Me the Lomdim!

You won’t find me agreeing with someone like this very often. In fact I would be willing to bet that on most Hashkafic issues he and I would very likely be on opposite sides. And yet on this issue we are one.

Yesterday VIN reported about an an ‘explosive speech’ delivered by Rabbi Aaron Krausz (pictured). He spoke – well past nightfall during a Shalosh Seudos meal in his Shul. Rabbi Krauz is a prominent Rav and Rosh HaYeshiva in Williamsburg and - I believe - a Satmar Chasid. His subject: Declaring war against yeshivos that expel their Talmidim (students).

If I had uttered these words, I would have been accused of Charedi bashing. Well, Rabbi Krausz can hardly be classified as a Charedi basher. And he not apparently some sort of renegade. According to VIN - here is what he said (translated from Yiddish):

“Rabosai, there is a fire burning in the Jewish community! All those yeshivos who only take metzuyanim have blood on their hands! We have teens wandering the streets, thrown out because they don’t know a p’shat or a deep Rashba? Stop with the nonsense!” “oh, you wanna build “lomdim”. That’s your goal, right? Look around in shul. Show me all those lomdim you brought up with this system. Show me!!”

Rabbi Krausz went so far as to call for a boycott of institutions like this telling people not to give them a dime.

There is no question about it. Many Yeshivos are so competitive that they will only accept the best Bachurim and subject them to such intensive learning schedules that it can cause burn-out even in the most diligent of students. Those students will not last long in places like this.

I have also said in the past that parents are in many cases guilty of contributing to this phenomenon. Every parent thinks his child is a genius and will push to get him into a school like this.

The problem is that most children are not geniuses. Jews have a bell curve too. Most people fall within 1 or 2 standard deviations on any intelligence scale which is well within the normal intelligence range and nowhere near the genius range. What many Jewish parents are not willing to recognize is that part of our population falls within average to below average range. And even if they do acknowledge it - certainly their child does not.

But often they do. A student of average or even slightly above average intelligence will not thrive in such a high pressure environment. They can –and often do just drop out. At first in class and later from observance altogether...in a state of frustration and sometimes even clinical depression. When that happens many self medicate. That usually means resorting to alcohol or illegal drugs.

The intense competition between Yeshivos to be recognized as ‘the best’ means they aren’t interested in average students and gear their studies to the over-achievers. Many do not make that cut – and don’t even get accepted.

These schools are guilty of murder – spiritual murder. I think that is what Rabbi Krausz is talking about.

My Rebbe, Rav Ahron Soloveichik accepted almost all students into his Yeshiva, Yeshivas Brisk, and rarely if ever expelled anyone. He understood the consequences of that. I am told that he resisted expulsions even at the suggestion the Rebbeim. Other Yeshivos were very selective and quick to rid themselves of any student that they had the slightest problem with. Those students often ended up in Brisk. He took them in. And often they thrived there.

I recall a few years ago that Rav Avrohom Chaim Levine, the Rosh HaYeshiva of Telshe-Chicago and member of the Agudah Moetzes making a similar point during an address at an Agudah or Torah U’Mesorah convention. He railed against today’s Yeshivos that accept only the best of the best – from only the ‘Frummest of Frum’ homes.

He pointed to some distinguished Baalei Baatim or Mechanchim in the audience who would never be accepted by today’s standards. Rabbi Levine did not call for a boycott then. But if this very Charedi Chasidic Rav and Rosh HaYeshiva is calling for one, things must have really gotten out of hand.

This is quite an indictment of the whole sytem – especially in light of his challenge to these elitist Yeshivos to produce even a single Lamdan (…someone who knows how to learn Torah in depth at the highest of levels).

More power to him. The question is – will anyone listen to him?

Whose School Is it?

About 20 or so years ago my friend Alan Aron and I were elected to the local school council for the DeWitt Clinton Public Elementary School – or Clinton for short. Why would I get involved in the running of a public school? It was to protect the interests of the community where the school is located. Every school council was required to have 2 of its members be non parents in order to represent community interests when schools interests intersected with them.

Clinton is located in Chicago’s West Rogers Park. That is a heavily Orthodox neighborhood. For various reasons the enrollment increased over the years to the point of overcrowding. The school could not handle the over-flow. They had to rent space in various remote locations to handle the overload. This was obviously not an ideal situation.

Clinton rightly sought to put another nearby school building no longer used but still owned by the Chicago Board of Education back on line to remedy the situation. The problem was that the building was not empty. It had been leased for many years to Hanna Sacks Beis Yaakov – one of the premiere Orthodox high schools for girls in Chicago. Both Alan and I were Hanna Sacks board members too.

Legally the Chicago Board of Education had the right to get that school back. But morally it was a bit more complicated. Clinton needed that building to relieve their overcrowding. But for Hanna Sacks it was an existential crisis. They had no decent facility to go to at the time. They desperately needed the building just to stay alive.

Long story short, our presence on that local school council representing the community helped Hanna sacks to secure the building. We made our case directly to the school as members of their council. Local elected officials were involved and sided with us - as did Chicago’s Mayor Richard M. Daley. Mayor Daley to his everlasting credit understood the importance of maintaining the integrity of Chicago’s ethnic neighborhoods. He saw this divisive issue as a threat to that.

Hanna Sacks was - and is - an anchor for the Orthodox residents of West Rogers Park. If it fell – that may have precipitated a major population shift to the suburbs. I’m not sure that would have ultimately happened. But everyone felt that the loss of a major anchor could lead to that.

At the same time Mayor Daley is a dedicated public servant and very supportive of the Chicago public schools. He was not about to abandon them. He somehow got the Chicago Board of Education – an independent entity - to approve the construction of a state of the art expansion to Clinton on their very large property. That would solve their overcrowding problem. He also convinced the Board of Education to sell Hanna Sacks the building they were in at a very reasonable price. Problem solved. It was a win/win for everyone.

I bring all this up in the light if an article in the Forward about a similar (though not identical) situation in New York. An abandoned public school building, the former Hillcrest School, was recently sold to New Square - a Chasidic enclave in Rockland County - for purposes of converting it to a Yeshiva. Non Jewish and non Orthodox Jewish residents are upset by this.

Among other things they are upset by what they perceive to be the lowball price that New Square paid for it. They also feel that the Ramapo Board of Education - in whose jurisdiction this matter fell and who sold the building - was not truly interested in the welfare of the public school system they represent and they were shortchanging children that attend those schools. Six of the eight elected members of the Board of Education of the East Ramapo Central School District are Orthodox Jews.

The Ramapo board of course disagrees. They say they have not undermined the public school system at all. They are only responding to the needs of its constituents who are heavily Orthodox. In fact they say the only reason that Orthodox Jews are on the Ramapo Board of Education in the first place is because they felt their needs had been ignored in the past. And they are now the majority.

The sale of this abandoned school building is being contested and the New York State Education Department put a hold on the sale.

One might take the position that the non Jewish or non Orthodox residents have a point. They have a right to be upset and take action when they see assets belonging to the public school system being so easily transferred out of the system – assets that could be used to better the circumstances of the public schools.

But I would strongly disagree with that. There is a reason the board has so many Orthodox members. The vast majority of their district is Orthodox. Board members are elected and therefore should represent the wishes of the electorate. As long as they do not perpetrate a fraud they have the right to sell property for any price they wish. Even if it is under the actual value.

And it is far from certain that this is the case. That building may have intrinsic value that is greater than the price that was paid - but that alone is rarely what determines market value. The economic law of supply and demand does that. If a school is abandoned for many years during which time no one expresses any interest in purchasing it - it is worth zero dollars.

That New Square now expresses interest when no one else did means that its value went from zero to 3.2 million dollars (the price they paid). That was in effect the market value unless other legitimate buyers have shown any interest. I do not believe that is the case. Had New Square not bought it, the school would remain an abandoned building with no value to anyone.

This isn’t a matter of right versus right, as was the case with Hanna Sacks. It is a matter of right versus wrong. A private religious school has the need and they bought an abandoned building to fill that need. All the complaining by members of the neighborhood smacks of an anti-religious or even anti Semitic sentiment.

I say this as someone who is in no way a proponent of New Square Chasidus - or any Chasidus for that matter. Nonetheless this is a no brainer for me. If New Square is somehow denied their purchase, I believe it will be a travesty of justice.

That said, I would caution New Square should take care to be as accommodating as possible. I should think and hope that they already are. Riding roughshod over your opponents - non religious or non Jewish neighbors - would in effect be making a Chilul HaShem.

One must have sensitivity to the legitimate concerns of others no matter how great the need is. Need does not replace good behavior. Good behavior will generate good will. If there is a way to solve a problem in ways that will make both sides happy - that should be the way to go. That is what happened in Chicago and that is what should happen here.

Esther Petrak: A Second Look – and an Apology

A few weeks ago I wrote a post about a interview making the rounds on the internet about a Modern Orthtodox young woman by the name of Esther Petrack. The interview showed her answering in the affirmative - a question about whether she was prepared to violate Shabbos to be on a reality show. The show was Tyra Bank’s America’s Next Top Model.

I used Ms. Petrack as an example of a problem that I believe exits in the modern Orthodox community. The problem of why some of its members might go ‘Off the Dererch’. There is a segment of modern Orthodoxy I call MO-Lite that is observant for social rather than ideological reasons. I think that is true in other segments as well including the right. But I also believe that in modern Orthodoxy it is more prevalent.

I am not going to get into a discussion about that here. Nor am I going to discuss whether it is appropriate for a religious young woman to participate in this kind of competition. That is not my issue here.

This post is very specifically about an apology and it is directed to Ms. Petrack and her family. I want to offer my sincere and profound apologies if in any way my post contributed to any pain they might have had.

I was mistaken. I took for granted that the interview making the rounds was an accurate reflection of what happened. That it was edited doesn’t bother me. These things are always edited. But it was the way it was edited that was wrong. It was edited to make it seem like Ms. Petrack was about to abandon her Judaism just to get on the show.

But I was apparently wrong. Very wrong. This was made clear in a post in the blog: Pacific Jewish Center Rabbi. Therein the blogger, Rabbi Fink, cites the words of Ms. Petrack’s mother who testified to the fact that the interview was edited to reflect the opposite of the truth and goes on to show via an anecdote that her daughter is indeed serious about her Judaism. Rabbi Fink made the same error I did in his original post on the subject and apologized. I now do the same.

I toyed with the idea of deleting that post but decided to leave it up and add an update and link to this post. The reason I’m not taking it down is because I still believe in the general premise of the post. It’s just that Ms. Petrack is not an example of it. She is apparently a sincere and religious modern Orthodox young woman who has every intention of remaining observant.

Again, my sincere apologies to the family.

Taking a Bitter Pill

Stories like this are truly depressing. They are depressing at so many levels that it leaves me with a feeling that there is just no hope for our Charedi Israeli brethren. They are a rapidly increasing population that is entrenched in a system that encourages poverty. And they are going to have to sink before they learn how to swim.

Not that anyone says they are required by the Torah to be poor. But that they are required to follow a path that more often than not leads to it.

A story published yesterday at Matzav.com tells us of a meeting of venerable Rabbanim who are resisting Israeli Education Minister Gideon Sa’ar’s declared crackdown on Charedi schools. He wants to insure that they follow the ministry’s core curriculum requirements. These Rabbanim have once against ordered that their community resist this with all their might. Who attended? A veritable who’s who of Charedi rabbinic leadership. From Matzav:

Present at the meeting in Bnei Brak were Rav Michel Yehudah Lefkowitz, Rav Nissim Karelitz, Rav Chaim Kanievsky, Rav Shmuel Auerbach, Rav Berel Povarsky, Rav Yaakov Adas, Rav Moshe Tzadka, the Belzer Rebbe, the Sanzer Rebbe, the Boyaner Rebbe, and Rav Yisroel Hager of Vizhnitz. Also present were a number of roshei yeshivos and cheder principals from around the country.

They say that this fight is solely about who is going to control the education of Charedi students:

Maran Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv wrote a letter comparing Sa’ar’s moves to those of the Polish authorities in pre-World War II Europe.

At the end of the session, a kol koreh were drafted, stating that “Only Torah sages have the authority to determine the course of study in the Talmudei Torah and all other educational institutions… Talmud Torah principals should not agree to any external supervision over the curriculum… or any other thing that would mar the independence of the pure education they are charged with.”

First let me say that I do not in any way mean to disparge any of these great Torah figures. Compared to them, I am truly a nobody.

But I truly do not understand their level of opposition. It is beyond reason to so stridently oppose what has to be at least a partial remedy for the intense, consistent, and growing poverty of the most committed Jews among us.

I understand their Shittah of teaching Torah only. They insist that anything other than Torah study is an unacceptable dilution of it. It is as though they are saying that any kind of secular studies that might be introduced into their schools - at any level - is forbidden by the Torah law. At least that is how they’re selling it - and that’s how they’re fighting it.

I have to ask (as I have so many times in the past) if it is so Assur, why do American Charedi rabbinic leaders allow it in their system? Are there two Torahs?! It can’t be Assur there and Mutar here.

Often one will hear the following response: America and Israel are two different situations. They cannot be compared.

Really? Why not?

I’ve also heard explanations along the lines that ideally it would be best to follow the Israeli model of no Limudei Chol - secular studies. But that would never ‘sell’ in this country, so we have no choice here.

But that answer would turn Moetzes member and Telshe Rosh HaYeshiva Rav Avrohom Chaim Levine into a liar. He gave an impassioned defense of the secular studies program offered in Telshe saying that it was their Shittah going back to Europe to offer secular studies and that it has never in the slightest hindered the achievement of their students.

It would also put into question Rabbi Ya’akov Perlow’s attending college and reciveing a degree. How could the sitting chairman of the Agudah Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah voluntarily do something like that? It doesn’t matter that he now opposes college – if he even does. One learns far more by example than one does by words. Did he think it was a good idea then and change his mind? Was there no Daas Torah when he decided to attend college?

And what about the last Chairman of the Agudah Moetzes, Rav Avrohom Pam? Did he violate Daas Torah by attending college and receiving a degree in math?

And we aren’t even talking about college here. We are talking about elementary school and high school!

To me the answer is obvious. There is nothing wrong with studying secular studies in a Yeshiva. It violates no Halacha at all.

Much of the complaint by Israeli rabbinic leaders is based on their claim that it is being forced upon them by a non Torah entity. An entity to which they attribute nefarious motives. They claim that the government wants to get a foothold in their system using these innocuous means in order to further an anti Torah agenda.

This was the case of the great European Yeshivos. Similar efforts were attempted by the anti Semitic Czarist rulers in Russia and their secular anti Frum Jewish partners. The Roshei Yeshiva knew the ulterior motives. The Czarist government and secular Jewish goal was to assimilate all Jews - ridding them of any Torah observances by at first mandating innocuous secular subjects. The Roshei Yeshiva correctly closed their doors rather than to subject their students to that. Those secular Jews made no secret about their agenda.

But I do not believe for a moment that this is the goal of the education ministry or the Israeli government. They look at an economy that is being under served by Charedim. And with Charedim increasing their percentage of the population, they see disaster coming as less people work and contribute financially.

Not that there aren’t people in the Israeli government that wouldn’t want to destroy any vestiges of religious observance. I’m sure that there are. But most government ministers are not really interested in that. They simply want to see a functioning society and a functioning government that is fully funded so that it can pay for the vital services they provide. Like the armed forces. Or the health system. Or the welfare system.

But let us say for arguments sake that their accusations are true and that the only reason they oppose Limudei Chol is because the evil government wants to force it upon them.

OK. Let them devise their own a Limudei Chol curriculum. That cannot be forbidden.

If they will retort that instituting Limudei Chol would prevent the kind of intensive studies that will give Klal Yisroel its future leaders, I would dispute that with evidence that some of the greatest Charedi leaders in Klal Yisorel have had formal secular educations and they still became great leaders. I would even argue that those who had such educations became great because of - rather than in spite of it.

But even if one would concede that a Limudei Chol program of any sort would hinder the development of Gedolim - why force every single student into the same program? Surely they cannot believe that every single student has the potential for becoming a Gadol! Why not allow at least those who do not have that potential – which is proabably the majority of their students – to also study subjects that will help them earn a living wage in the future? Why the strident opposition to even the slightest amount of Limudei Chol?!

Certainly the government has the right to withhold financing until its conditions are met – even if those conditions were unreasonable. And in this case they are more than reasonable. Especially when one considers core curriculum requirements to be in the best interests of the country. Which I fully believe it is.

It should be made clear that no Yeshiva is being forced to close. They have complete freedom to teach whatever they wish. But eliminating government funding may have that effect on many of them.

These rabbinic leaders have said that this is discriminatory and that it is unfair to place additional burdens on their schools that already woefully short of their budgetary requirements. It will crush them.

It breaks my heart to say this, but I side with the government here. It is a bitter pill to swallow but the Charedi educational system must take its medicine or die!

The Charedi leaders will cry foul and accuse the government of being Reshaim! - evil people with evil motives. The government will survive that. But the Charedi system may not survive without government funding. At least not in its present form.

This may force them to re-think their attitude about Limudei Chol and come back to the government with a proposal to install some sort of minimal Limudei Chol curriculum. The government will probably accept that as a compromise and agree to re-instate funding. And that is a good thing.

Of course it would be a lot better if they didn’t let it come to that. But I the way things are going, it may have to.

Daas Torah Versus the Internet

Daas Torah is losing. Well not exactly. At least not what I would call Daas Torah - meaning God’s will.

But the Daas Torah many on the right believe it to exclusively be - is losing. And they are losing to the internet. An article in the Asbury Park Press is a clear demonstration of this new power in all of our lives. Perhaps most influential part of the internet on Orthodox Jews is that of the blogger.

This phenomenon is also an indication that moderate Charedim are winning. At least those who own computers and subscribe to the internet. This apparently seems to be the majority in Lakewood based on this article.

In its lengthy article App.com talks about the ‘Vaad’. Lakewood apparently has a rabbinic council - one of whose most important functions seems to be telling people how to vote. In previous elections that meant that any candidate they endorsed was assured a victory via a huge turnout - voting in almost monolithic fashion.

So effective were they that in 2002 a political candidate endorsed by the Republican Party facing no completion on the ballot lost his election to a write-in candidate supported by the Vaad.

That’s the power of Daas Torah. ‘Don’t decide for yourselves who to vote for.’ ‘We (Daas Torah) will tell you who to vote for!’ The mentality of the majority of religiously right wing voters about Daas Torah has almost always been: ‘You know best what God wants.’ ‘Therefore we will follow you unquestioningly.’

I don’t really know whether this Vaad is the official voice of the Torah leadership in Lakewood. But based on how much influence they had in that election it is not unreasonable to assume it is their voice - at least in an unofficial way.

But in 2010 they seem to have lost their influence. It has been replaced by the influence of bloggers. That is what happened in a more recent election when Hershel Herskowitz (pictured above) was promoted by an Orthodox blogger who ran against the Vaad’s candidate Committeeman Robert W. Singer. The bloggers influence was so strong that the Vaad could no longer guarantee that their endorsement would assure Singer a win in the general election. He then dropped out. From the article :

"If I lose locally, I lose my Senate seat, and I can't risk that,'' Singer told Vaad members, according to a person who was there. "So you have to commit to me that you can bring out the vote, or I'm not running.''

This is an incredible development. Not that this wasn’t predicted. Anyone with eyes to see and ears to hear knows that the internet has changed – everything! If they haven’t yet surpassed all other media in influencing the public – they are certainly on track to do so very soon. Traditional news media have suffered a major hit in their readership (…or viewers …or listeners) because of it. Even the New York Times is hurting. Time magazine has been reduced to a pamphlet!

And now the internet’s influence seems to have surpassed ‘Daas Torah’. At least in the voting booth.

I’m sure there are those who will dispute that this Vaad is actually speaking for Daas Torah. I would of course be one of those – but for different reasons than those who value right wing Daas Torah. I do not consider Rabbanim in Lakewood to be the sole representatives and disseminators of Torah's wisdom.

The decisions of Rabbanim in Lakewood upon matters of public policy are uniquely theirs and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Rabbanim I look up to. Like Rav Aharon Lichtenstein for example. But the right wing Yeshiva types do see Daas Torah as the sole province of their own right wing Rabbanim. They might say that this Vaad does not represent them nor do they have their endorsement. I honestly don’t know whether they do or not. But if they controlled the vote to the extent they did in 2002, I don’t think there is any question about it. Even if it doesn’t have any ‘official’ endorsement.

One of the things that right wing Daas Torah has been railing against is the internet. The main thrust of their objections is the snare it is for some people who may be exposed to pornographic websites. But their outcry is not limited to pornography. They are equally opposed to bloggers who scoff at these rabbis. These bloggers constantly deride and ridicule them. That is wrong and against Halacha.

That said - I’m pretty sure these Rabbanim oppose even well intended and respectful criticism. They have come to their decisions based on their combined Torah knowledge which is considerable. One might even say that respectful disagreement is even more dangerous because it is respectful. Good people will pay serious attention to that. Especially when common sense applied. It’s kind of hard for reasonable people to ignore common sense approaches to communal problems. Especially if it presented by sincere religious bloggers who respect right wing Daas Torah even while occasionally disagreeing with it.

I think that’s one reason for a ‘Lo Plug’ - the categorial opposition to the internet. Instead of advising caution... using kosher filters and the like, right wing Daas Torah advocates complete avoidance of it - if not for Parnassa reasons. If it is needed for Parnassa, it should be used with kosher filters and should never be used for any other purposes. I think the ‘other purposes’ they are most concerned with is bloggers – even Frum ones.

The problem is that most of their constituents have been honoring this in the breach. That’s why the Vaad’s previous hold on the religious vote has dissipated and an internet endorsed candidate won a recent election.

These are the moderate Charedim I so often speak of. They have Charedi values but do not walk in lockstep anymore with the political endorsements of Daas Torah. The Vaad's motives may be too influenced by what is best for ‘the Yeshiva’ – Beis Hamedrash Gavoha.

For its part the Vaad might argue that what is best for the Yeshiva is precisely what Daas Torah demands. But their constituents – many of whom are former students of the Yeshiva – now see otherwise. They have another source who has gotten many of them to think for themselves by presenting alternative views of what Daas Torah might be. A view that sees the financial needs of religious families as more important than developing and enlarging an already large Yeshiva campus for example.

So in the war between the internet and ‘Daas Torah’ it seems the internet is winning. And that’s a good thing. Getting religious people to think for themselves and value common sense is always a good thing. And the truth is that Daas Torah has not suffered. At least not Daas Torah as I understand it. What has really suffered is the mindless approach to a narrow interpretation of it.

Shmuley Boteach - An Unorthodox Orthodox Rabbi

I have always had mixed feelings about Rabbi Shmuley Boteach. On the one hand I find him to be a self promoting publicity hound who will stop at very little to get attention. I also find it off putting that he attaches himself so often to questionable entertainment figures.

On the other hand he is a brilliant writer who often reflects my own views on the issues of the day. I don’t always agree with his take on things. But most of the time I do - whether his views on a particular subject are mainstream or not.

That may seem a bit strange in the sense that he considers himself to be a Lubavitcher (Chabad). I have been - and continue to be - very critical of Chabad’s Messianism. It has not gone away and I suspect that most Lubavitchers in some way still feel that the possibility exists that the Rebbe will be resurrected to fulfill his mission on earth and will become the Messiah.

I will admit that all the ‘noise’ has died down and that with the exception of a very loud and strong contingent of Lubavitchers in Israel and in Crown Heights - most Lubavitchers are getting on with their lives and have at least taken the Moshiach issue off the front burner if not completely eliminated such thoughts from their minds. But I digress.

It is my understanding that the Lubavitch community has basically disowned Rabbi Boteach. He fell out of grace. I’m not exactly sure why, but I believe it has something to do with his non conformist - perhaps even rebellious - behavior as the Rebbe’s emissary at Oxford University… and his controversial first book, ‘Kosher Sex’.

Nonetheless Rabbi Boteach considers himself a Lubavitcher and though he may (or may not) harbor some messianist sentiments, that is certainly not his focus. When he is not ‘self promoting’ he seems to reflect mainstream Orthodox views. Occasionally however he goes off the reservation and reflects what can only be called an ‘unorthodox’ viewpoint – at least by mainstream standards.

His positive views about fundamentalist Christians for example are similar to mine. But they are definitely out of the mainstream of Orthodox thinking. Although that is slowly changing.

On the other hand I disagree with his take Noah Feldman. Feldman is a rising star in Academia who attended Modern Orthodox Schools and was an observant Jew well beyond his Yeshiva high school graduation. In an incident involving a reunion with his Yeshiva high school graduating class it was revealed that he married out of the faith. He was roundly criticized and even shunned by virtually all segments of Orthodoxy.

Rabbi Boteach wrote a fawning article about him and why we should accept him rather than reject him. Although I understood his point, I disagreed with him. One should not be praising Jews who marry out of the faith. Especially those who were raised as Orthodox Jews.

And that brings me to a Jerusalem Post article he wrote recently about homosexual Jews. It was in response to another rabbi – Yehudah Levin – who made headlines last week by at first endorsing and then repudiating his support of a New York gubernatorial candidate who apparently flip-flopped on that subject.

I find myself hard pressed to disagree with a single word he Rabbi Boteach says here. But I seriously doubt that this view reflects the views of mainstream Orthodoxy. Here are some of his main points. He begins by dealing with the word Toevah - abomination. That is the word used in the Torah in connection with the homosexual act of anal intercourse and is almost always brought up when the subject of homosexuality is discussed. From the Jerusalem Post:

But the word appears approximately 122 times in the Bible. Eating nonkosher food is an abomination (Deuteronomy 14:3). A woman returning to her first husband after being married in the interim is an abomination (Deut. 24:4). And bringing a blemished sacrifice on God’s altar is an abomination (Deut. 17:1.). Proverbs goes so far as to label envy, lying and gossip as that which “the Lord hates and are an abomination to Him” (3:32, 16:22).

As an Orthodox rabbi who reveres the Bible, I do not deny the biblical prohibition on male same-sex relationships. Rather, I simply place it in context.

There are 613 commandments in the Torah. One is to refrain from gay sex. Another is for men and women to marry and have children. So when Jewish gay couples come to me for counselling and tell me they have never been attracted to the opposite sex in their entire lives and are desperately alone, I tell them, “You have 611 commandments left. That should keep you busy. Now, go create a kosher home with a mezuza on the door. Turn off the TV on the Sabbath and share your festive meal with many guests. Put on tefillin and pray to God three times a day, for you are His beloved children. He desires you and seeks you out.”

How can anyone disagree with this? It may not fully address a homosexual’s needs but it my view it certainly demonstrates what I believe to be an accepting - and correct approach. And yet the right wing tends to advocate shunning these – their fellow human beings.

Interestingly Evangelical preacher, Pat Robertson whom Rabbi Boteach asked about it seems to reflect the same attitude that most of right wing of Orthodoxy has on the matter. Rabbi Boteach describes Robertson’s response:

He answered to the effect that homosexuality is too important to overlook, seeing as it poses the most grave risk to the institution of marriage. Other Evangelical leaders have told me the same. Homosexuality is the single greatest threat to the family.

Here is what Rabbi Boteach answered:

One of two heterosexual marriages (is) failing, with 70 percent of the Internet dedicated to the degradation of women through pornography and with a culture that is materially insatiable even as it remains all-too spiritually content, can we straight people say with a straight face that gays are ruining our families? We’ve done a mighty fine job of it ourselves.

The extreme homophobia that is unfortunately to be found among many of my religious brothers and sisters – in many Arab countries being gay is basically a death sentence – stems from an even more fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of sin.

The Ten Commandments were given on two tablets to connote two different kinds of transgression, religious and moral. The first tablet discusses religious transgressions between God and man, such as the prohibitions of idolatry, blasphemy and desecrating the Sabbath. The second tablet contains the moral sins between man and his fellow man, like adultery, theft, and murder.

The mistake of so many well-meaning people of faith is to believe that homosexuality is a moral rather than a religious sin. A moral sin involves injury to an innocent party. But who is being harmed when two, unattached, consenting adults are in a relationship? Rather, homosexuality is akin to the prohibition of lighting fire on the Sabbath or eating bread during Passover. There is nothing immoral about it, but it violates the divine will…

For me the real killer is the tsunami of divorce and the untold disruption to children as they become yo-yos going from house to house on weekends.

I find his arguments to be compelling. So even though he is a self promoting publicity hound, I cannot fault him here. When he’s right, he’s right. And I find that to be the case more often than not.

Bobbie’s Place

One of the reasons I focus on negatives is that it is the negatives that make the news. Negative news about the Orthodox Jewish community requires comment to counter the notion that this is the norm among Orthodox Jews.

The truth is however that anything that does make the news is by definition not the norm. The concept of ‘man bites dog’ reflects that idea. That is the classic definition of news - something out of the ordinary. We can take some solace in that. We are not a bad people. But we do have some bad apples and they are the ones who make the news.

Since ‘man bites dog' stories’ are the only ones that are reported, that is all people read. There must therefore be a public counter to it. The vast majority of Orthodox Jews are laws abiding citizens. Dog bites man is not news and will not be reported.

That’s what makes a story in the Wall Street Journal so extraordinary. It is not the norm. It is a Man bites dog story. But for a change it is a great Kiddush HaShem about Orthodox Jews. The headline is apt: Charity, Beautifully Disguised.

The Schick family is exemplary of the Midos all Jews should have. They have done a remarkable thing. They have created ‘Bobbie’s Place’ a ‘store’ that gives children’s clothing away free to those in need. It serves about 8500 children. But one would be hard pressed to see that it is anything other than a typical department store. It has changing rooms and checkout counters. People who walk into it remain with their dignity and even though they are getting charity, it doesn’t feel like it.

Avi Schick, - a successful attorney is also the grandson of Renee Schick founder of Schick’s Bakery in Boro Park (which still operates but which the family sold a while back). From the article:

"It looks and operates like a really nice store," said Mr. Schick, an attorney with the law firm of SNR Denton and chairman of the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. "The goal is that it never screams or even whispers charity."

Here is a description of the way the store operates:

It's almost a stage set: A sign on the frosted-glass front door says, "Welcome to Bobbie's Place." The shelves and racks are well stocked with brand-new merchandise. There are signs addressed to "Bobbie's Place shoppers," and changing rooms where one is given a number tag, like at the Gap, to keep track of the garments they're taking to try on. There's also a computerized checkout system that tallies children's purchases, and a telephone-answering system that greets callers in Persian, Russian, Hebrew and English.

The store operates with volunteers and has an annual budget of $650,000 which is funded by donations from ‘foundations, friends and family’. All the merchandise is new and bought – not donated – at a fraction of the retail cost.

‘Shoppers’ are vetted via a phone interview to determine need and vouched for by social workers or clergy.

This is the kind of ‘out of the norm’ story I wish there were more of. A true Kiddush HaShem. The Schicks are people that fulfill the Jewish mandate of being an Or LaGoyim - a ‘Light unto the Nations’.

What a way to give Tzedaka. My hat is off to this family. Renee Schick sure knew how to be raise her kids! We should all take a lesson from her.

Why Weren’t They There?

Last Sunday afternoon there was an important meeting here in Chicago that was arranged by the Jewish Board for Advocacy for Children. I was unable to attend because of a family emergency. But I was informed about the proceedings by a friend who did attend.

From his account it was well attended and a rousing success. It was co-sponsored by the Associated Talmud Torahs (ATT) – the Orthodox umbrella organization that oversees all Orthodox day schools in the greater Chicago area. It is currently headed by former Chicago Community Kollel (Lakewood) Avreich Rabbi Mordechai Reisman. That this organization helped to sponsor this event is a good sign.

The meeting was addressed by the Av Beis Din of both the RCA and the CRC - Rav Gedalia Dov Schwartz and Rav Moshe Soloveichik as well as many national and local rabbis and mental health professionals active in this cause. The head of the Cook County States Attorney's Sex Crimes Unit spoke about his organization’s involvement. But the testimony from two abuse victims were the highlight of the event, They spoke about how they were treated by the Orthodox Rabbinic establishment and their own communities when the publicly revealed that they were sexually abused .

What is troubling from my perspective is the fact that there were key rabbinic leaders of Chicago’s Orthodox Jewish community that did not attend. I have to ask Why? Why did so many of them feel it was not important enough to attend? Or worse- boycott it. I can understand one or two people missing the event for personal or unavoidable reasons. But that there were so many missing from the event raises questions. One source even informed me that parents in a particular day school were told to actively boycott it! I hope it’s not true. But if it is… Why?

I don’t get that.

I am not casting any aspersions on any of these rabbinic leaders. I respect and honor them all. They are great people and deserve the respect of all of us. They must have had good reasons not to attend. But I cannot think of a single reason why they wouldn’t – try as I might.

There can’t possibly be any religious objection to it. Again - I can’t think of any. And I guess Rav Schwartz and Rav Soloveichik couldn’t either. As I said, they were there and addressed the audience. Rabbi Reisman’s ATT surely would have boycotted it if there were any religious objection. As I pointed out, his organization co-sponsored it!

I would have expected universal support for such an event and advocacy for the public to attend. Especially considering the subject at hand – preventing sex abuse.

Instead there was precious little promotion of this meeting. And it seems that parents in at least one day school were instead told to boycott it! I don’t get it. Chicago’s children are not immune to sex abuse. There have been far too many victims of it from various predators over the years.

I am disappointed that these leaders did not attend or apparently even lend their support to it. It would have certainly boosted the importance of the meeting if they had and advocated attendance. Why didn’t they?

Clemency for Jonathan Pollard - A New Appeal

Last Sunday there was a post in Matzav.com that detailed the basis of a new appeal to the President for clemency for Jonathan Pollard .

Pollard was caught and convicted of spying for Israel while working as a naval intelligence officer for the CIA. The prosecution claimed that his offence was so serious and the compromise to security so massive that it endangered the United States and the lives of covert agents working abroad. Then Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger argued that it warranted abrogating a plea deal whereby Pollard would receive a lighter sentence in exchange for his full cooperation – which he gave.

The book was thrown at him and he was sentenced to life in prison. Many people Jew and non Jew saw this as a grossly unfair sentence back then including me. But at the same time none of us had all the facts of the case because for national security reasons - they were not released to the public. So the bottom line for me is that I just didn’t know whether the sentence was just or not since I was not privy to all the information that was available to prosecutors and the judge.

Nonetheless I have no problem with petitioning the President for clemency. My gut feeling is that Pollard’s punishment was too harsh. I think Pollard has been punished enough for his crime. 25 years is a long time and he should be released. The details of the appeal do not address the facts themselves but they reveal a level of bias that support accusations that there has been a great injustice done here. Among some of the things mentioned are the following. From Matzav.com:

(Rafi) Eitan, who was Pollard’s (Israeli) handler, revealed on Thursday after press time that the US had violated an oral agreement with Israel to release Pollard after 10 years. In an interview with Israel Radio, Eitan also accused the US of deliberately perpetrating a travesty of justice by violating Pollard’s plea agreement and slapping him with what he called a grossly disproportionate life sentence.

He pointed out that at the time of Pollard’s sentencing in 1987, secret charges were laid against Pollard blaming him for the crimes of a Russian mole within American intelligence, Aldrich Ames. Pollard was neither informed of these charges nor given a chance to challenge them in a court of law.

(Lawrence J.) Korb who was assistant secretary of defense under Caspar Weinberger at the time of Pollard’s arrest, wrote a letter to Obama calling for Pollard’s release that was released last week. The letter called Pollard’s sentence “grossly disproportionate” and said it was the result of Weinberger’s “visceral dislike” of Israel, and not because of the offense Pollard had committed.

(Casper) Weinberger said in a 2002 interview that the Pollard case was a “minor matter” that had been “made much more important than it was” in order to serve another agenda.

Here we have insiders telling us about prejudice - and factors irelavant to Pollard’s guilt that nonetheless impacted his sentence. But I still have to ask why it is that so many Presidents refused to grant him clemency? From Reagan in the 1980s to Obama in the present day. The biggest impediment seemed to be the intelligence community’s opposition. It has been constantly argued that they would be demoralized and outraged at Pollard’s release!

It can’t just be anti Semitism no matter how paranoid one is about entrenched anti Semitism in the intelligence community. There has to be something so terrible that releasing Pollard would shake the intelligence establishment to the core. This seems to be the case now for over two decades.

What that is I don’t know but 5 Presidents knew and based their refusal on it. None of them can really be called anti Semites. Furthermore granting Pollard clemency would have surely boosted their stature among most Jewish voters and increased Jewish support for their Presidency. That they did not do so says a lot.

Matzav ignores these very important questions. Pollard may not have been guilty to the extent he was accused of but I assume that every President knew exactly what the details of his case were and still refused to consider commute his sentence.

Why do I bring any of this up? Justice should not require an abrogation of truth. Jonathan Pollard was apparently a lot guiltier than this appeal makes him seem.

That said, I reiterate what I said at the outset. I agree with the clemency request. Pollard’s sentence should be commuted to time served. Let him go and live in peace already. Enough is enough.

A Flaw in the Yeshiva System

I’m sure that the first thing I am going to hear out of the box by members of the Yeshiva world is, ‘Don’t judge us by the actions of a few’. Fair enough. I won’t be doing that. But neither do I absolve Yeshiva system of at least some responsibility.

An article in Ynet informs us that there has been a fraud perpetrated against the Israeli National Insurance Institute (Bituach Leumi). Apparently a Charedi man referred Yeshiva students to a Health Ministry psychiatrist who perpetrated a scam:

The psychiatrist has been arrested on suspicion that he gave his clients fraudulent medical opinions citing mental illness, which afforded them monthly stipends from the state. On Monday the Rishon Lezion Magistrates' Court remanded his arrest by four days.

Last week police arrested an ultra-Orthodox man believed to have referred clients to the psychiatrist. He is suspected of filing dozens of fraudulent claims regarding handicaps and mental illness on behalf of these clients, many of whom are haredim.

Dozens of fraudulent claims involving millions of dollars.

I realize that there is not a single Mechanech who teaches their students to steal. And yet here we have a bunch of Yeshiva students who had absolutely no compunction about doing that. No guilt. No regret (until they got caught at least).

The question must be asked. Why?! Why do these young people who are supposed to be the most ethical among us - reflecting the highest of Torah values - think it is OK to steal from the government? I seriously doubt that most of these Yeshiva students thought they were doing anything wrong. I am also sure that the vast majority of other Yeshiva students would never even consider doing such a thing. But these young men did.

It wouldn’t surprise me if these few Yeshiva students are otherwise not bad people. Yeshivos don’t generally accept bad students. They are weeded out or expelled very quickly these days. I’m sure that they behaved in ways that were expected of them.

I’m also sure that there was a great need. That they decided to defraud the government was probably sourced out of that too. Not working and learning full time for stipends that are well below the poverty level usually creates that need. I'm sure they used this money for groceries and not to buy flat-screen TVs.

They probably rationalized and saw the government as unworthy – denying them a proper stipend because they are anti religious. They probably felt a sense of entitlement – thinking the government was out to hurt them. So why not take what you can get from such an evil anti Torah force?

That’s a nice rationalization but it isn’t true. But even if it were true that the government is anti religious, what right does that give these students to steal? Why do they not run from that as fast as they might run from the sight of a scantily clad woman?

Once again I have to look at the kind of Chinuch they get. Like I said, I do not believe for a minute that Yeshiva students in Israel are taught that it is OK to do this kind of thing. I seriously doubt that any rationalization is given in any Shiur to these students for being involved in a fraud. But at the same time - I doubt that they are ever really warned not to try anything like this – that it is no less Assur than Chilul Shabbos. I doubt that there is a single lecture about not stealing money from the government.

Instead I would bet that there are constant references made about the government as evil. It is probably all negative all the time. They are accused of all kinds of nefarious motives and deeds. They are sometimes even cursed in the strongest terms by some of their Mechanchim. Especially right after they are denied a funding request or when the government needs to implement cuts in their budget that affects their allocation. I would again be willing to bet that words like ‘Reshaim’ in reference to government officials are constantly bandied about at times like those.

I tend to doubt on the other hand that there is anything positive ever said about the government or any of its institutions. Is it any wonder that some Yeshiva student s– given the opportunity to cheat what they see as an evil entity – will not think twice about it? If a government is evil and denying them stipends to which they believe they are entitled, then why not simply defraud them out of it if they can find a way to do it?

This is where the Yeshiva system has failed. With all of its great achievements in the area of widespread Torah learning - the great Yeshivos in the world apparently do not teach their students that it is completely Assur to steal from anyone –be they a religious Jew, an irreligious Jew, or a non Jew.

They may assume that their students already know it. But obviously not all of them do. Certainly not the dozens of them who filed these fraudulent claims with Bituach Leumi. Frankly I’m surprised that there weren’t even more Yeshiva students who have tried this as a way to supplement their income.

Shouldn’t this be a signal to the Yeshivos and their Mechanchim to stop cursing the government? …to stop blaming them for all their troubles? And isn’t this yet another indication of the staggering economic woes facing the Yeshiva world requiring them to reassess and to change the way things are done? I think it is.

Israel? or Palestine?

I cannot ever recall finding myself in such complete agreement with someone on an important issue and yet completely rejecting of his conclusions.

Jonathan Gross is an Orthodox Rabbi in Omaha, Nebraska. He has written a book entitled The Jewish Case for the One State Solution. This is an idea that is mind bogglingly dangerous. Rabbi Gross believes that Israel should give up its Jewish identity and become a secular democracy comprised of citizens not identified by religious affiliation - much like the United States. In a vacuum - ignoring history and theology - this is not a bad idea. But in reality it is a disaster.

First I want to applaud Rabbi Gross for studying the situation and recognizing reality. He correctly perceives the situation as it is – which is not the way most supporters of Israel see it. Most see the situation through their own lens. In the case of most religious Jews that means bringing to bear their own religious feelings. Rabbi Gross has removed those feelings from his mind and analyzed everything as objectively as I have ever seen. It is nearly impossible to disagree with him about the facts.

I cannot possibly deal with all of his points in the context of a relatively short post (of which this one is considerably longer than most). But I will attempt to describe the essential ones and then analyze his proposed solution.

One of his primary observations is that Rabbi Meir Kahane was a true visionary who saw things as they were. Rabbi Kahane’s perceptions are perhaps more valid now than when he first made them. We see an Arab populace that is at best unsympathetic to the existence of a State and at worst we see a fundamentalist arousal of faith in many Arabs that has actively resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Israeli Jews.

Even Arab citizens of Israel who mostly would never commit an act of terror nevertheless cheer when a suicide bomber successfully accomplishes his mission of mass murder. They do so out of a sense of pride in successful resistance to their Israeli occupiers. This - despite the fact Israeli Arabs in Israel have it better than most Arabs in other countries. Economic success does not replace national pride in their people.

It is also a fact that Arab Muslims do not recognize the Jewish theological claim to the land. The Koran says that the God fulfilled His promise to Abraham through Ishmael, not Isaac. Nor do they recognize the historical claim. To claim ownership based on the fact that Jews ruled the land over 2000 years ago is surely a questionable enterprise. It should be well past the ‘statute of limitations’ to reclaim ownership now based on that. This is why their refer to Israeli independence day as ‘the catastrophe’. They see Jews usurping their land as occupiers causing them undue hardship – especially since the six day war in 67.

Meyer Kahane put it well. You cannot buy Arab loyalty with indoor plumbing. No matter how much Israel has improved the lot of its Arab citizens, they will never see Israeli rule in ‘Palestine’ as just. And those are the ‘peaceful’ Arabs. The Islamists are trying to do something about it.

Meir Kahane understood the demographic time bomb too - long before anyone else did. He realized that the Arab population growth rate surpassed by far the Jewish population growth rate. He said that a choice had to be made between a Jewish State and a democratic one. You could not have both. Meyer Kahane obviously believed that Israel must be a Jewish State and non Jews living there had to agree to give up any national rights including the right to vote. They could then stay and enjoy full civil rights and prosper. If they did not agree to that they would have to leave – either voluntarily or by force.

This of course could not work. Any attempt at mass popuations transfers would be seen as extremely provocative and racist. The Israeli government certainly saw it that way and outlawed Rabbi Kahane’s political party declaring it racist and thus illegal.

In my view they should not have made his party illegal. He had a right to his views just as the Arab political parties in Israel do. Nor do I consider them racist. But I do agree that his ‘solution’ would have been a disaster for Israel on too many levels to discuss in this post.

Rabbi Gross also says that those who say we should have faith in God that He will always protect Israel is a mistake – as is the idea that Israel’s existence is the first flowering of our messianic redemption.

I should think that the latter is obvious by now. It is now well over 60 year of statehood and we are no closer to seeing Moshiach now than we were the day before Israel proclaimed its independence. Israel is is threatened by a radical fundamentalist Iran that has pledged to wipe Israel off the map while developing the nuclear capacity to do so. Not to mention an implacable Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and various other Jihadist groups pledged and actively working toward that goal.

What about faith in God’s protection that many religious Zionists talk about? Rabbi Gross says they are deluding themselves. ‘Read the book!’ he says. He of course means the Torah which says the exact opposite. God constantly promises to expel His people from the land if they do not obey the laws of the Torah. Isn’t it fair to say that the government of Israel isn’t even remotely interested in that? There is no guarantee or even a reason to expect that God will save Israel anymore than he saved European Jewry during the Holocaust.

The bottom line for Rabbi Gross is that a two state solution is untenable. A truly Jewish state that is also fully democratic will never happen since the Israeli Arabs are not going anywhere. Israel can’t continue to deny them their rights and still call themselves democratic. Nor can they deny Arabs the right of return while granting Jews that right. That is truly undemocratic.

Rabbi Gross acknowledges that even if we take theological and democratic considerations off the table there is a moral consideration for keeping the State Jewish. It is the ‘never again’ philosophy. The Jews of Europe were victims of genocide during the Holocaust in part because they had nowhere to go. Had they been allowed to escape to other countries at the beginning of the war many would have. But the doors were closed. Israel’s ‘Law of Retrun’ guaranteeing any Jew the right to be granted immediate citizenship and entry would prevent that scenario. That is as good a reason as any for Israel to maintain its Jewish identity.

But Rabbi Gross makes the following observation which on its surface is true. The holocaust is fading from our national consciousness and our collective memories. Eventually the last survivor will die. And like all historical tragedies will be forgotten or at least not have same the impact on our national Jewish psyche as it does now. Israel will not be seen as a place of refuge against persecution.

The facts on the ground are in fact quite the opposite. There is relatively little persecution of Jews througout the world today. Instead Israelis see America and western democracies as a refuge for themselves. Many Israelis are simply tired of being under siege. They fear suicide bombers, random rocket attacks, and see a nuclear armed Iran looming in the not too distant future. Immigration policies in western democracies are now more open than ever. Ask France and Canada... and even Germany!

And though things can always change and go back to the way they were during the holocaust, the ‘never again’ mentality is surely fading in the current world climate. So as important as the ‘Never Again’ reason is, it will not be sustained indefinitely.

Rabbi Gross’s overview is very thorough and quite on target. But his solution is mind-bogglingly naive.

He is advocating a ‘One State Solution’ and that Israel abandon its Jewish identity. Instead Israel should become a secular democracy granting full democratic rights to all - Jews and Arabs alike. There should be no automatic religious or ethnic right of return. Not for Jews nor for Arabs. Citizenship should be determined by democratically derived rules - much as they are in the US. Jews, and Arabs - Muslims and Christians - would have religious freedom and practice their religion under the full protection of the law much like the first amendment of the US constitution guarantees its citizens.

National leadership will not be limited to Jews nor will Judaism – whether religious or secular versions be be the national character of the state. Everyone will be better off. Jews will maintain their current religious rights and Arabs will no longer feel that the Jews have taken over. One state. Two peoples. No subservience by either. The rights of both guaranteed.

Leaving out religious considerations that sounds fair. But in reality it is impossibility. And it is just plain wrong. Jews cannot leave out Judaism when it comes the land of Israel. It is one thing to be pragmatic about it – I am a pragmatist when it comes to peace. But to completely abdicate any right is wrong headed. As Rashi explains - the Torah in its very first statement should make makes ownership of the land clear to any Jew. That should be never be ignored. That it Israel is currently not being run according to Halacha is beside the point. Just because we may be expelled by God again doesn’t mean that we necessarily will be.

Despite the fact that many secular Jews do not like to have religion forced upon them - most still have Jewish religious identities. And they follow many religious practices – even if they aren’t completely Shomer Shabbos. So having faith in God’s protection is not entirely ridiculous. There is also as unprecedented resurgence of religious fervor and devotion to Mitzvos. Torah learning there is at unprecedented levels. So expulsion is not necessarily the Fate of the Jewish people in Israel.

On a practical level setting up a secular democratic where Jews and Arabs will be completely in par with each other is a fools errand. There is well over one hundred years of built up animosity towards the Jewish people. Arab hatred didn’t happen over-night - and it won’t be eradicated overnight. Rabbi Gross is aware of that but claims that a slow and carefully planned transition from a Jewish State to a secular democracy will prevent any violent reprisals by Arabs eager to ‘get even with the Jews’ for subjugating and mistreating them.

I truly question that assumption. The education of far too many Arabs includes many decades of massive doses of Jew hatred. I find it ridiculous to believe that such indoctrination can change - no matter how slow such changes take place. Even Israeli Arabs who may not hate us but they resent us and would do little to protect us in any kind of pogroms that might develop. Islamic fundamentalists would salivate at such an opportunity.

The dismantling of the Jewish State – giving more power to these Palestinians will have drastic consequences. It could even hasten a democratic takeover by Hamas much as it did in Gaza. Especially if considers the rapid growth of Islamic fundamentalism in recent years.

I don’t know what the solution to this conflict is, but a one state solution is not it. Giving up Jewish rights to the State is both morally wrong and existentially foolish.

This is the sad state of affairs as I see it. I see no solution at all. Not a two state solution, not a one state solution, and not the status quo. That doesn’t mean we shouldn't try and seek peace somehow. But we do need to keep the eye on the ball. And that means keeping Israel Jewish and strong.