What Influence Does Dennis Prager Have In Orthodox Judaism?

Posted on March 22, 2012 by Luke Ford

Historian Marc B. Shapiro tells me: “I don’t think he has any influence. I don’t ever see him quoted by Orthodox figures (although Rabbi Rakefet quotes a line from Prager a lot). He doesn’t speak in Orthodox shuls or write for Orthodox publications, and is not Orthodox. So is it surprising that the Orthodox don’t quote him? I was surprised and impressed that the OU a few years ago had him speak at the West Coach convention.”

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Rub Them Out!

Posted on March 22, 2012 by Luke Ford

Joe emails: I drive by a bordello on my way home every night and did not realize it.

I stop at the light almost every night on pico and overland, and there is this big neon sign for a massage. I did not realize that West Los Angeles was such a well known massage area, and sure enough by googling the address of 10667 pico, the same kind of shenanigans are going on in the westside, not near any shuls.

I would posit that the only legitimate massage parlors in los angeles are chain places like the massage place or some of the places in koreatown where there are large Asian women actually practicing massage.

You should make it a mission to crack these places, I bet the real guilty party is not the customers, but the landlords who like the high rent that these places can support.

Prostitution is bad for the economy because of the tax revenue that is lost. Hookers do not report wages earned. Contrast that with other leisurely pursuits such as boating, gambling, drinking – the government gets its share of the revenue earned by the service provider.

So, either legalize it and tax it (which will not happen due to an unholy alliance of the religious right and feminists) or have the government make money off of it by enforcement of the criminal aspect. Busting massage parlors brazen enough to have a Pico boulevard address should be good for hundreds of thousands of fines and penalties, and the increased costs will be borne by the customers.

Eventually, the cost of this trade will become too expensive and men will return to more government enriching forms of leisure. I guess it offends me as a taxpayer. If I did not have to report my income, I would be much wealthier. Why should a professional (lol) massager be different.

THE LOS ANGELES TIMES REPORTS MARCH 23, 2011:

First it was pot shops. Now it’s erotic massage parlors.

In the last two years, they’ve proliferated in the city — just as dispensaries did, and for a familiar reason.

In both cases, Los Angeles failed to quickly assess and act upon the ramifications of a new state law.

Police say they’ve seen numerous illicit massage parlors open in Hollywood, Koreatown and the San Fernando Valley. But the biggest explosion has been in Eagle Rock, which is a community that was also inundated with medical marijuana dispensaries.

An online directory of erotic massage establishments lists nearly 30 in Eagle Rock and Glassell Park, including 15 on a two-mile stretch of Eagle Rock Boulevard. One of them, Surprise Massage, advertises “Fairytale Oriental Massage” with “Sexy Pretty Asian Girls NOW.”

“You can drive down the street and see one on every block,” said Michael Larsen, the president of the Eagle Rock Neighborhood Council. “Our community is being inundated with prostitution.”

The problem is connected to a 2009 state law that created voluntary state certification for massage therapists. The intent was to make it easier for legitimate massage therapists to work anywhere in the state.

The law said therapists with state certification could no longer be subjected to stringent local vetting. In Los Angeles, for instance, where city code classifies all parlors as “adult entertainment,” licensed therapists would no longer have to apply for police permits, which require fingerprinting and background checks.

Many cities — including Culver City, West Hollywood and Glendale — promptly began requiring those applying to open massage parlors to show their state certification.

But Los Angeles failed to do so, instead asking applicants only to state if they were certified, not to show proof, according to Officer William Jones, who is in charge of the Los Angeles Police Commission’s permit processing section.

As a result, it became an easy place for erotic massage parlors to set up shop.

Ahmos Netanel, who heads the California Massage Therapy Council, a nonprofit set up by the state in the massage certification bill, said L.A. should rewrite its code.

“My understanding is that the city has basically stopped regulating,” Netanel said. “We have shared with them that this is unusual.”

THE LOS ANGELES TIMES EDITORIALIZES MARCH 24, 2011:

Some may be tempted to dismiss the proliferation of massage parlors as not a big deal, on the grounds that they’re merely places for consenting adults to engage in personal business, sexual or otherwise, behind closed doors. That’s naive. Whether prostitution should be legal is not the issue. Currently, it’s not, and Los Angeles’ failure to pay attention has now made its streets the destination for massage customers from cities that no longer tolerate such establishments.

In other cities, officials are cracking down on the exploitation of women, many of them underage, whose illegal immigrant status makes them virtual slaves in the sex industry. But just as City Hall’s regulatory and enforcement ineptitude drew “medical” marijuana dispensaries that brushed aside state law and engaged in straightforward sales to customers with or without medical need, massage parlors have arguably made northeast Los Angeles the region’s prostitution capital. Angelenos certainly want their city leaders to bring in more jobs, but this is not what they had in mind.

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Israel’s Haredi Welfare State

Posted on March 22, 2012 by Luke Ford

In his first lecture on R. Joseph Mesas for Torah in Motion, professor Marc B. Shapiro says: The Talmud says explicitly that if you don’t work, if all you do is study, it will lead to thievery.

“This society of learners, now 60,000 strong, takes off in the Steipler‘s reign. The Chazon Ish gave the philosophical justification for this type of life.”

“The Steipler comes from an extreme [Bnai Brak] segment of Haredi life. If haredi society had developed along the [more moderate] Jerusalem model, the Hebron model, it would’ve been different.

“Had American Haredi society developed along the Yeshiva Torah Vodaas or Mir yeshiva or Chaim Berlin model, it would’ve been different. These guys all went to college at night. They all had professions. But Ahron Kotler triumphed.”

“Why? I think the whole reason in Israel is government subsidies. The whole Israeli haredi society is a fiction. It’s based on hand-outs. It’s the biggest welfare state imaginable. Where else do you have a whole society where people are taught to depend on the dole? It’s not the haredim’s fault. It’s the government’s fault. You have a welfare state that supports able-bodied people.

“In America, it’s different. In America, it triumphed for ideological reasons. In America, you have people who work and yet they still adopted the Ahron Kotler model.”

“The haredi world has always not changed until it is too late. Do you know how many lives have been destroyed by this haredi model of being condemned to poverty? It’s a form of child abuse. There’s no other western country where children are permitted to grow up without any education. Not even basic math or skills. The Satmar in America seem to get basic secular education and they don’t assimilate.”

“The Israeli government funds a haredi educational system in opposition to the state.”

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Terrorism In The Name Of Palestine

Posted on March 22, 2012 by Luke Ford

Max Boot writes: Just as there was a certain segment of the intelligentsia which claimed after 9/11 that the U.S. “had it coming,” so too there will no doubt be some who claim that the Jews somehow had it coming because the Toulouse gunman, Mohammed Merah, cited the plight of the Palestinians along with other issues (e.g., the public ban on the veil in France) to justify his murderous rampage. The best riposte to this despicable line of argument comes from none other than Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad who says as Jonathan noted yesterday: “It is time for these criminals to stop marketing their terrorist acts in the name of Palestine and to stop pretending to stand up for the rights of Palestinian children who only ask for a decent life.”

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Drudge Report: LA City Council Close To Resolution Barring Radio Hosts From ‘Racist, Sexist’ Comments…

Posted on March 22, 2012 by Luke Ford

This Drudge Report headline is inaccurate. A resolution has no power to do anything but to share the opinions of those voting for it.

Here’s the story in question.

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Marc B. Shapiro: If Christianity Isn’t Idolatry, Then What Is?

Posted on March 21, 2012 by Luke Ford

According to the chief rabbinate of Israel, Hinduism is not idolatry. Hindus see themselves as monotheist. They’re not monotheists by our Jewish standard.

Hinduism has no doctrine of incarnation, of God becoming man. That’s the essence of Christianity and that’s idolatry on the face of it (but not necessarily in fact) according to Judaism.

In his second lecture on R. Joseph Mesas for Torah in Motion, professor Marc B. Shapiro says: “If Christians get let off the hook for being idolaters and they believe that God assumes human form in the incarnation, then if you assume God manifests in a statute, how is that different?”

“Once you assume that Christianity is not idolatry for non-Jews, then I don’t know what is idolatry for non-Jews. I don’t know what else qualifies.”

“What could be more idolatrous than believing that God assumes human form?”

The Rambam wrote that Christianity was idolatry.

“What could be more idolatrous than worshiping a human being? Yet the Ashkenazic psak (Jewish law) is that since they believe in a supreme deity and this is just a manifestation, this is not idolatry. Does this make sense? Is it correct? It is not for me to say.”

A Jew can say that he thinks Christianity is idolatry for non-Jews but in terms of practical halachah (Jewish law), he accepts that it is not. If you were to hold by the view that Christianity is idolatry, then that immensely complicates dealing with Christians as Jews face severe restrictions on doing business and having social interactions with idolaters. So who needs that tsures?

Marc: “R. Shalom Messas permitted a Jew to donate money to build a church because for a non-Jew, Christianity is not idolatry.

“I work at a Catholic university. I see this up close. If you were to go into a church and see the worship and the rituals and the beliefs, from a Jewish perspective, this is idolatry. And yet, so many poskim (rabbinic deciders of Jewish law) see otherwise.”

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Jewcer.com – Crowd Funding For Jewish Projects

Posted on March 21, 2012 by Luke Ford

It’s a Jewish version of kickstarter.com.

Check out Jewcer.com:

The global Jewish community is filled with creative and innovative ideas that could benefit our people both in Israel and around the world. Unfortunately, many do not succeed. Why? Funding. Well, Jewcer is here to change that. We are offering something extraordinary — a crowdfunding platform that promotes collaboration and trust both within and around our community to develop and implement projects linked to the Jewish people and/or Israel.
Jewcer doesn’t stop there, we strive to connect projects with people, and people with people. Jewcer innovators and funders impact communities by sparking innovations and turning ideas into reality.

How it works
Jewcer is a platform that allows project managers (innovators) to finance their ideas through small pledges collected from many funders (jewcers). Projects can come from any field — cultural or technological, secular or, a small business, a personal project or an advocacy campaign — as long as a positive link to our community is created.
Jewcer is open to hosting projects created by individuals as well as established organizations. Posting a project on Jewcer can benefit and compliment the traditional Jewish organization in many ways. To learn more, visit our Organizations information page.
Anyone can create a Jewcer profile, start a project, fund, share, track the impact of their small donations and follow the progress of the project they helped spark.

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Carrying On The Sabbath

Posted on March 21, 2012 by Luke Ford

In his second lecture on R. Joseph Mesas for Torah in Motion, professor Marc B. Shapiro says: “If R. Joseph Mesas made his rulings in America, we’d think he was a Conservative rabbi.”

“In Algeria in the 1920s, 1930s, the average Jew was carrying on Shabbos. It wasn’t any different from what was going on in the United States.

“The eruv (so that a Jew can carry within its domain) was established in the United States in St. Louis in the 19th Century. Then at the turn of the century, there was an eruv established on the lower East Side [of New York]. Until the 1970s, I don’t believe there was another eruv in the United States. I remember when the eruv went up in my home town of West Orange, New Jersey.”

“There was no pressure for an eruv in the 1950s, 1960s in the United States…”

“So-called Orthodox Jews were not very observant, not very educated.”

“It was only in my generation [born in the 1960s], those of us who went to day school and learned the laws of Shabbos, that people started insisting that we needed an eruv because people were taking Shabbos more seriously.”

“The Toronto eruv was the third eruv established in North America.”

“R. Mesas argued that in today’s day and age, there was no need for an eruv to carry on Shabbos.”

Marc B. Shapiro writes:

Orthodox Jews like to claim that they adhere to an unchanging tradition of laws and beliefs. Based on this understanding, it becomes possible to decide who “is in” and who “is out;” that is, who is part of the Orthodox camp and who must be placed in a different denomination. The term “Orthodox” itself, which is not part of traditional Jewish vocabulary but actually comes from the Christian lexicon, was adopted in order to distinguish different types of Jews. Yet what exactly defines so-called Orthodoxy is not so easy to pin down.

To illustrate the problem, let me give a few examples. When I was younger everyone knew that according to Orthodoxy, Jews were not permitted to ascend the Temple mount. Yet today many Orthodox Jews do precisely that, encouraged by great rabbis. A generation ago, the notion that women could read the Torah or get aliyot in an Orthodox synagogue would have been laughed at. In fact, it was precisely because of this that some women came up with the idea of a women’s prayer group, at which women would be permitted to read the Torah. Yet today we have Orthodox minyanim in which women are, in fact, called to the Torah. When I was younger it was axiomatic that Orthodoxy could not accept women rabbis. Every Orthodox Jew knew that this was an impossibility. Seeing all the changes that have occurred in my lifetime, I don’t think that I am going out on too much of a limb to predict that it will not be long before we have Orthodox women rabbis.

The reality is that Orthodoxy is not so much a concept as a social construct. With this understanding, it should not be surprising that what the Torah-true population regard as unacceptable in one era, could very well be regarded differently among at least some of this population at another time. It is vital to bear this in mind when considering the works of R. Joseph Messas (1892-1974). Messas served as a rabbi in Tlemcen, Algeria and Meknes, Morocco, and at the end of his life as Sephardic chief rabbi of Haifa.

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Orthodox Women Covering Their Hair

Posted on March 21, 2012 by Luke Ford

In his second lecture on R. Joseph Mesas for Torah in Motion, professor Marc B. Shapiro says: In the 1950s at RIETS (the rabbinical school at Yeshiva University), about one percent of the rabbis in training had wives who covered their hair. Now almost every such wife covers her hair.

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The Whorehouse Next To Synagogue Ohel Moshe On Pico Blvd 90035

Posted on March 21, 2012 by Luke Ford

A few hours after I published about the massage parlor next to the Orthodox synagogue Beth Jacob of Beverly Hills, the whorehouse closed down.

I was not aware until this evening about the whorehouse next to the Sephardic synagogue Ohel Moshe on Pico Blvd. I’ve walked past the place 500 times but never gone in for a rub and a tug.

I have very high morals.

The Asian massage parlor is located just east of Ohel Moshe — the Xin Xin Health Center at 8642 W Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90035. 310-652-8808

I don’t know why Orthodox synagogues in Pico-Robertson have so many whorehouses next to them. I wonder if it affects the quality of the davening? All that moaning would distract me from my prayers.

Bill emails: “lets see how long it takes them to close. lets get rid of all the whorehouses in pico rob! they should all move to the “other-side of town” with all the criminals and crooks.”

Bartol says: “LMAO to the point i almost had heart attack , when ur article begins listing customer reviews.. basically ur introducing frum people to hooker review websites lol!!! under the guise of protest ur slipping them some pretty heavy information ur hilarious.”

Evil triumphs when good people do nothing.

The price of holiness is eternal vigilance.

A siddur in the hand is worth two in a bush.

If you watch the massage parlors, the shuls will take care of themselves.

A community is only as strong as its weakest link.

A fool and his money are soon parted.

A good beginning makes a good ending.

A good man is hard to find.

A little of what you fancy does you good.

A person is known by the company he keeps.

Little strokes fell great oaks.

One swallow does not make a summer.

The devil finds work for idle hands to do.

The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.

Walls have ears.

I long for an internet where there are more shul reviews than hooker reviews.

According to OhelMoshe.com: “Located in the heart of Pico Blvd where many immigrants from Iran, Israel and other countries have settled in. Catering to the spiritual needs and religious obligations of many orthodox Jews in the Greater Los Angeles area, we offer various religious services, prayers as well as others.

“Our temple attracts mostly members of the Iranian Orthodox Jews and we have a very established itinerary of events to fulfill the spiritual needs of our membership.”

Here are some reviews from rubmaps.com: “Decent massage and decent ending with free roaming hands. Noted several similar looking places on Pico nearby would be interested in others reviews of this area.”

“I had a totally different experience… showed up around 10am on a weekday and the place was closed. Called the number on the door and spoke to a woman who said she was on her way, could I wait? I was worked up enough to do so even though the promised 20 minutes turned into about 45. Called her a couple of times to check in and she was friendly and I thought even said something about ‘free’ but with her accent I cant be sure. In any case she and another younger girl (who ended up being my girl, I think her name was ‘Alice’) showed up and were very friendly. Alice gave an ok massage then when the 30 min. was over, she said thanks.”

“Indiscript storefront or office front, it’s kind of a combination of both. Exterior waiting room behind steel mesh door with couch. Once inside, it’s nice, clean and a comfortable environment.”

“Wanted 60min originally as I wanted a decent massage with a little fun, but she said she has a later appointment so would only do 30min. Ok. The massage was good, strong but not to hard, pretty professional, but the way she was moving the towel around and massaging, I felt more was available. As she massaged and climbed around the table, whenever I could I gently rubbed her leg or thigh. On the flip, she was shyly errant in allowing the towel to barely cover my privates and giggled. She massaged my chest, my legs and an occasional rub on my pkg. all this time I’m caressing her nice *** through her soft pants. Well at this point she removed my towel and starting my HE using oil. She was a little rushed so I slowed her down, which she was fine with. I caressed her back an ****** through her shirt, then she began kissing and playing with my nipples, and kissing my cheek. She went to get more oil, and when she came back she lifted her top to let out her better than average b cups with some nice eraser sized nips. I took the initiative and releasd her bra with one hand and again she giggled then massages me to completion. Overall good experience, only a little rushed, but calmed down once she was comfortable. This is a HE only place, but I think it’s pretty good for what it is.”

“She told me to lay face down, and she gave me about 30 minutes of good relaxing massage with touching my whole body- then she said turn around and she started to play (Exactly what i wanted), and i started to touch her ****** under her shirt and also her nice curvy ****, after all it was nice and relaxing with a good happy ending. I will definitely visit her again shortly.”

Check out this review from a guy who enjoyed a nice kosher dinner at TwentySix.

“Happened upon this place after dinner at twenty-six . . Looked like a nice little rub and tug, but was actually hoping for a decent massage out of it as well . . . I’m GLAD I did! Walked in the front door, to a nice lobby, rang the doorbell and Apple greeted me with a smile. Once pass the security door, there are two to three private rooms. The rooms are surprisingly nice, heated, soothing music etc . . . I opted for the half hour, since I had other things to do that night . . . Got undressed and placed the towel over me, just to see how long it would stay on . . . The massage was just like I like it, firm and relaxing! I almost took a nap, but since it was in effect a “quickie massage” resisted it and looked forward to the “flip”. Once I turned over, she motioned downward with her hand, and then I KNEW we were on the same page! Got a little lotion, and went to town! In the process, she was VERY open to letting my hand wander up and down her side, and even scored a little kitty action . . . Needless to say, after I was relieved, she not only toweled me off, but offered a little water as well after the session. I will be returning, she is one of the sweetest providers I’ve found.”

Bill emails: “i like the review from the john who went straight to the whore house after dinner at 26. for sure an “other-side” of town [Fairfax-La Brea traditional Orthodox] person. no self respecting pico rob yid would **** where he eats (literally).”

Here’s a Yelp review for the kosher restaurant TwentySix: “We had a lovely night at 26 – a rare date night for us parents of 2 kids! We went because we had a daily deal coupon, and really enjoyed the meal and experience. Our server Nathan was incredibly friendly and funny – made great suggestions, interacted with us genuinely, and was very helpful. The food was good too, although the prices were on the high end. My one disappointment was that the menu had apparently changed, due to a change in the head chef – I had heard so much about the French onion soup (almost impossible to find kosher, because it’s usually made with beef stock), and was so sad it was no longer on the menu. But what I ordered was delicious so it was okay in the end!”

Here’s another review of a rub place just up the street by the mikveh:

Dynasty Wellness Center
310-248-3886
9540 W Pico Blvd
Los Angeles, CA, 90035

“I had seen this location in BP for a few weeks, so I decided to check it out. I was greeted at the door by an mid-30s woman who provided the massage. Long story short, it was a good strong massage but no extra favors. Her son was playing in the back. I gave a few hints and she specifically said no HJ.”

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