Nachum Lamm writes in response’s to Rabbi Gil Student’s critique of David Klinghoffer’s latest book:

"Be that as it may, what about the hundreds if not thousands of years during which Jewish communities supported their local poor as collectives. Does not the Talmud speak about this, as well as centuries of rabbinic literature? They were all basing themselves on the same biblical values that Klinghoffer is trying to identify."

Actually, it’s been pointed out that social safety nets only really work in homogeneous societies. As humans, we’re happy to help our own. The Scandinavian system worked for decades, the people not upset (mostly, I guess) at having to give up half their income to it. Then the Muslim population increased, and they started voting for right-wingers.

Criticize if you wish, but it’s human nature, and it’s best not to reject that too quickly, whether you believe in God or Darwin. See Sharansky’s latest work, for example. And the USA is certainly not homogeneous.

In addition, I can’t help shake a queasy feeling when I read any 1950’s era Orthodox rabbi (and this very much includes the Rav, anti-Communist though he was) praising the welfare state as a Jewish invention. To me it smacks too much of buying into the post-New Deal liberal "consensus" that dominated in that era, and that all "good Americans" were supposed to toe. After reading Jonah Goldberg’s Liberal Fascism, I can’t take that with a grin.

"In other words, we should require that immigrants follow a basic set of social rules"

Well, here’s a simple rule: Don’t violate this country’s laws. That includes entering it illegally. When Sonny Bono was first running for Congress, he responded to questions on illegal immigration by saying, "It’s illegal, isn’t it?" Exactly right, but few say that these days.

"Homogeneous society" is a code word for white and/or asian society. As in, "Homogenous societies don’t have high rates of violent crime." That is a nice way of saying "White societies don’t have high rates of violent crime."

Robert J. Avrech writes:

Today, 1 Tammuz, is Ariel Chaim’s ZT’L fifth Yahrtzeit.

In honor of our son’s memory we’re publishing an excerpt from The Book of Ariel that recounts the period when Ariel taught Daf Yomi—the daily page of Talmud.

In the summer of 2001, Rabbi Yosef Furman asked Ariel to substitute for him at the Daf Yomi class the good Rabbi taught at Yeshiva University Los Angeles on Shabbos afternoon.

Initially, Ariel hesitated, modest to the core, he did not believe that he was learned enough to teach Gemarah to a group of highly learned and dedicated adults. But Karen and I gently reminded Ariel that if he was thinking of going into Jewish education this would be a perfect opportunity to hone his skills as a teacher. Besides, we told him, you are an incredible Torah scholar, definitely up to the task.

And so, in addition to his already heavy learning schedule, Ariel prepared for the upcoming Shabbos and his first Daf Yomi class. After he went over the page of Talmud, he studied the commentary of the primary Torah and Talmud medieval exegete Rashi, and the lengthy, complex glosses of the Tosafot.

I reminded Ariel that in Daf Yomi we usually don’t delve into the commentaries, but perfectionist that he was, Ariel said:

“Yes, but I have to understand the Gemarah if I’m to teach it and do a good job.”

Here is the first page of the Babylonian Talmud, as it appears in the standard Vilna edition. The standardized pagination follows that of the third Bomberg edition, Venice, 1548. Pages are numbered by folio. This page is Berakhoth 2a—that is, the first side of folio 2 in the tractate Berakhoth, "Blessings".

Several times that week before the first class, Ariel called Karen’s father, Rabbi Pinchas Singer ZT’L , to ask his beloved grandfather to clarify a difficult passage in the Talmud. Sometimes they would spend hours on the phone, Ariel carefully taking copious notes with his favorite fountain pen.

Ariel was more than prepared; he was hyper-prepared.

As we walked to the the class—at the time it was in a back room in the Washington Bank on Pico Boulevard—Ariel fretted that maybe he really wasn’t the right man for the job.

“Who do I talk to?” he asked.

“Try and maintain eye contact with everyone, do a slow scan around the table and then do it again.”

“What happens if I have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the class?”

Go right before class begins and then if you have to again, just excuse yourself. They won’t hold it against you.”

“What happens if someone asks me a question and I don’t know the answer?”

“Admit that you don’t know, but that you’ll look it up and have the answer at the next class.”

“What happens if I faint?”

“What do you mean, are you feeling—?”

“Just kidding.” Ariel grinned.

The men who attended the Daf Yomi class were familiar; an assortment of friends and neighbors, all with warm and inviting smiles. Also in the class were several strangers whom Ariel recognized from the Beis Midrash. Ariel whispered to me that they were acknowledged Torah scholars, a good deal more learned than he.

Relax,” I told him, “you’ll do fine.”

My stomach was churning; the massive anxieties of a loving and doting father.

Ariel opened the massive Gemarah, scanned the page, looked up at the dozen expectant men at the table and smiled. He thanked them for giving him the opportunity to learn with them. And then Ariel dived right into the Gemarah.

He chanted the text in a lovely sing-song and translated from the Aramaic to English. His words and explanations flowed like water. I really didn’t hear what he was saying for I was relieved, happy—and so insanely proud that my cognitive abilities just shut down.

Is there a greater happiness for a Jewish father than to witness his son transmitting the Torah, our eternal traditions, with such love and exactitude?

Marc has been at the front of every development in Modern Orthodoxy for 30 years.

He has been an incarnation of the movement’s various twists and turns.

He has the ability to merge with his favorite thinkers.

Around 1980, Elazar Muskin was a dorm counselor at YU. Mordecai Gafni was like a clone of Muskin’s. They were both devotees of Shlomo Riskin.

Mordecai’s brother Yossi Winiarz was Elazar’s close friend. They both had red hair and they were both straight arrows.

R. Riskin operated Riverdale Hebrew Academy (a high-level Jewish prep attended by Gafni). It was an experiment that lasted about four years.

The principal was from Vancouver. He died at age 32 in the middle of the school’s Purim party. And that was the end of the school.

For about a year, Gafni seemed like the Second Coming of Rabbi Shlomo Riskin when Rabbi Riskin represented the cutting edge of Orthodoxy confronting modernity.

Then he was the Second Coming of Rav. Yosef Soloveitchik and Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach.

Then he was a West Bank settler in Israel and chief rabbi of his own town.

He was running NCSY programs for the OU and seemed to be on the path to running that organization. He was like rabbis Weil and Muskin. That take-charge type. That same hair cut.

Then Marc got into New Age thinking and pagan Judaism and the sacred feminine.

And now he’s a spiritual artist.

"I don’t know where to start," says a friend. "This guy is just so goddamn fascinating. A year doesn’t go by when he doesn’t do something outrageous. For the last 48 hours, I’ve been intoxicated."

Luke: "It was a great experience. He’s a fascinating guy. Charming. And a great host."

In 2008, Mordecai Gafni received his Ph.D. from Oxford University.

And what will Rabbi Weil do once he’s done with the Orthodox Union?

Take Malcolm Hoenlein’s job (as CEO of the Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations)?

Run for political office? That to him might be a sell-out.

I’m betting his ultimate ambition is to take charge of Yeshiva University about ten years down the line.

I asked a source in the know who said: "I think Rabbi Weil will do a very good job with the OU. He’ll take it to a whole new place. Will he be controversial? Probably. Will he be stepping on people? Probably. Will he be co-opting programs and things other people are doing and put them under the umbrella of the OU? Definitely."

Rabbi Weil is not a profound thinker nor an innovator. He’s a CEO. He talks a good game. He’s a good guy. He’s friendly. He’s power hungry. He’s territorial. He needs to be the alpha male.

In Pico/Robertson, Rabbi Weil would try to co-opt the other Modern Orthodox rabbis. He’d step on their toes. He’d compete for their most powerful congregants. The way to be a good shul rabbi is to have good relationships with other rabbis in the community and work together for the greater good. Rabbi Weil saw his mandate as "bringing back all the people who left Beth Jacob," even though many of them were never Beth Jacob members.

Some of Beth Jacobs old-timers saw the place as the first shul in the area and that the other shuls had therefore taken their members.

Rabbi Weil bought into that and that caused him needless conflict.

If, while running the OU, Rabbi Weil sees another organization doing something he wants, he’ll step in, if he can, and take it.

Rabbi Weil is a great speaker and a great big-picture guy. He’s great at delegating. Who will take care of the details for him?

Rabbi Weil has a hair-trigger temper. I wonder how much this will get him into trouble.

I’ve heard Jews from Dennis Prager to David Suissa suggest that Americans hold Fourth of July seders.

How’s yours coming along?

I’ve been too busy having "dinners with a difference" (Prager’s plan to get white and black people to eat together).

From PragerRadio.com:

3 .

Friday July 4, 2008 Prager H3: Open Lines With Dennis Prager Prager H3: Per usual, callers set the agenda. Issues raised include: A caller now pays to downloading music off the internet after hearing Dennis’ argument on the issue; An immigrant who escaped from a socialist country fears that Obama will turn America into a socialist state; Chuck from Denver, author of the original 4th of July Seder text, calls in with an update; the great grandson of a slave calls to salute and show gratitude for this great country.    Length: 00:37:01

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4 .

Friday July 4, 2008 Prager H1: Flying the Flag With Dennis Prager Prager H1: Dennis expounds on the words of the Declaration of Independence… Are you flying the flag? Dennis asks callers who aren’t flying a flag to explain why…A caller from Arizona tells Dennis about his family’s plans to have a 4th of July Seder.    Length: 00:36:03

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5 .

Thursday July 3, 2008 Prager H2: Singing Your Own Anthem With Dennis Prager Prager H2: Dennis is outraged over the lack of outrage at singer Rene Marie performing the "black national anthem" instead of the national anthem she was hired to sing at Denver Mayor Hickenlooper’s annual State of the City address…Dennis talks to Congressman Tom Tancredo of Colorado about his condemnation of the “Black” National Anthem fiasco.    Length: 00:34:44

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Thursday July 3, 2008 Prager H1: Trading lives for bodies With Dennis Prager Prager H1: Dennis talks to Michael Friedson, co-founder of The Media Line, an American News Agency specializing in coverage of the Middle East, about Israel trading live terrorists for the bodies of abducted Israeli soldiers.    Length: 00:34:46

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Thursday July 3, 2008 Prager H3: Can’t Remember What I Forgot With Dennis Prager Prager H3: Dennis talks to Sue Halpern, scholar in resident at Middlebury College in Vermont. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, the New York Times, Rolling Stone, Condé Nast Traveler, and The New York Review of Books, among other publications. Her latest book is Can’t Remember What I Forgot: The Good News from the Front Lines of Memory Research. *Please pull this for a best of    Length: 00:34:54

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Wednesday July 2, 2008 Prager H2: Male/Female Hour: My Husband Is Not a Pervert With Dennis Prager Prager H2: Male/Female Hour: Dennis reads an email from a listener who describes how she now understands her husband’s sexual drive much better now having listened to the Male/Female hour. Callers add their reactions and experiences.    Length: 00:34:45

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Wednesday July 2, 2008 Prager H3: Eat Watermelon With Dennis Prager Prager H3: Researchers declare watermelon to be a natural Viagra… Florida executes its first murderer in several years. This particular monster raped and murdered an 11-year-old… Barack Obama sent a letter to a gay advocacy group in San Francisco earlier this week affirming his position opposing California traditional marriage ballot measure. Yet he says he personally believes that marriage should reserved for male and female couples. But like so many of the senator’s positions there is a separation between word and deed… Dennis talks to Jim Sheeler, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist for the Denver Post. His new book is Final Salute: A Story of Unfinished Lives.    Length: 00:34:45

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10 .

Wednesday July 2, 2008 Prager H1: Has Your Life Turned Out the Way You Expected? With Dennis Prager Prager H1: Dennis was under the impression that most people are living the life they planned, but, after reviewing his own life and those of his friends, he comes to a different conclusion. Callers weigh in with their experiences. Best of Prager Hour. Originally broadcast on July 10, 2007.    Length: 00:34:42

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11 .

Tuesday July 1, 2008 Prager H3: Ultimate Issues Hour: The Meaning of Life With Dennis Prager Prager H3: Ultimate Issues Hour: Dennis talks to Anthony Kronman, Professor of Law, Yale Law School. His latest book is Education’s End: Why Our Colleges and Universities Have Given Up on the Meaning of Life.    Length: 00:34:36

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12 .

Tuesday July 1, 2008 Prager H2: Coal Makes Us Sick With Dennis Prager Prager H2: Harry Reid made this brilliant statement yesterday. He also said global warming was ruining our country. What do you expect from the man who said last year that the war was “lost”…Barack Obama gave a speech on patriotism. When he speaks in generalities he’s very effective, but if one looks at his policy proposals, one sees disaster.    Length: 00:34:08

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13 .

Tuesday July 1, 2008 Prager H1: Sixty Percent With Dennis Prager Prager H1: That’s how much of your money will go to the government if Barack Obama gets all the tax hikes he wants… Dennis talks to Mark Bauerlein. professor of English at Emory University. His latest book is The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future (Or, Don’t Trust Anyone Under 30).    Length: 00:34:43

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Monday June 30, 2008 Prager H1: Hands Free With Dennis Prager Prager H1: Dennis comments on a new California law that begins tomorrow – drivers can’t hold a cell phone while driving. This is a rare case where Dennis is in favor of a government regulation….The latest Paris fashion is now featuring men dressing in women’s clothes…    Length: 00:34:16

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Monday June 30, 2008 Prager H3: Stooges of Industry With Dennis Prager Prager H3: Dennis talks to Lawrence Solomon, columnist with National Post (Toronto). His latest book is The Deniers: The World Renowned Scientists Who Stood Up Against Global Warming Hysteria, Political Persecution, and Fraud… The Los Angeles Dodgers won a game this weekend against the Los Angeles Angels without getting a hit…. Dennis reads an email about a mother who discusses her obsession with breast feeding… Has Barack Obama ever opposed his own party on an important issue?    Length: 00:34:35

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Monday June 30, 2008 Prager H2: If Democrats Had Their Way in Iraq… With Dennis Prager Prager H2: That country would now be a disaster area. Instead real progress on every front is being made… Dennis talks to Douglas Feith, former undersecretary of Defense and one of the architects of the Iraq War, about why his teaching contract was not renewed at Georgetown University.    Length: 00:34:28

Let this dirty old man date your 19-year old daughter!

It’s what God wants!

…I made a video.

I walked around the Mormon Temple:

And on the way back:

I’m setting up a post-production business called Nausea Video.

The school’s (Yeshiva University of Los Angeles high school) administrators tell the kids not to drink, but the rabbi-teachers when they have the kids over to their home, encourage them to drink, particularly on Purim.

What’s up with that?

From the WSJ:

Federal agents on Thursday arrested two supervisors at Agriprocessors Inc., the country’s largest kosher meatpacking plant, on charges they helped illegal immigrants secure fake documents and encouraged them to reside in the U.S.

The arrests marked the first by U.S. authorities of individuals in supervisory roles at the Postville, Iowa, plant. On May 12, Immigration & Customs Enforcement agents arrested 389 workers at the facility, most of them undocumented immigrants from Latin America.

On Thursday, ICE agents arrested Juan Carlos Guerrero-Espinoza, 35, and Martin De La Rosa-Loera, 43, on various criminal immigration and fraudulent identity charges outlined in separate complaints filed in U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. A federal warrant has been issued for the arrest of another manager, Hosam Amara, 43, who hasn’t been located, according to a court statement.

Both Messrs. Guerrero-Espinoza and De La Rosa-Loera were charged with aiding and abetting the use of fraudulent identification before the raid. Mr. Guerrero-Espinoza is also charged with aiding and abetting "aggravated identity theft," according to the court. Both men were detained temporarily until their detention hearings on Monday.

Illegal immigrants typically get jobs either by presenting Social Security cards and other identification carrying a fabricated name and number, or by utilizing the real name and Social Security number of a U.S. legal resident or citizen, which constitutes identity theft.

The court complaint, based on information from unnamed "sources" who worked at the plant, cites an instance in which Mr. Guerrero-Espinoza asked illegal immigrants for $200 and a photograph. The supervisor, who oversaw the plant’s beef-kill section, then allegedly provided the workers with fraudulent identification.

If someone will buy me this, I’ll wear it on my cam!