On his radio show yesterday, Dennis Prager says: “The very idea of black leader, I find unpersuasive. Blacks have leaders but whites don’t have leaders. Hispanics don’t have leaders, asians don’t have leaders. Only blacks have leaders. Do you know who they are appointed by? White liberals. Al Sharpton is a black leader? If you are a black with any dignity, you don’t find that a bad joke? Who appointed him? The white liberal media. Who appointed Jesse Jackson? The white liberal media. What have they done for blacks? Zero. They have perpetuated the notion that only blacks have leaders.
“Can you name a Jewish leader? An hispanic leader? A white leader? Why do only blacks have leaders? Because white liberals love that. They appoint them.”
A Google search for “black leader” yielded 170,000 results. “Jewish leader” yielded 99,700 results.
I have often heard the term “Jewish leader.” Young Marc Schneier at YU said he was a future Jewish leader.
“Asian leader” resulted in 132,000 results. “White leader” resulted in 80,000 results.
A Brooklyn father who sent his son to an abusive boot camp for delinquents in the Caribbean is suing a Far Rockaway couple and 30 others for $411 million, claiming they destroyed his reputation. The lawsuit has the blessing of Rav Aharon Schechter, the Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva Chaim Berlin in Brooklyn, according to a lawyer for the main defendant.
Michael Hersh made national headlines in 2008 when he had his then 16-year-old son, Isaac, taken from his home in the middle of the night and shipped to Tranquility Bay, a privately owned correctional institution in Jamaica. Former students were suing the institution then, claiming physical and mental abuse. Months later, Isaac got word of his forced captivity to a friend. Friends and family members launched an effort to pressure the Hersh parents to release him. In March of 2008, after nine months in Tranquility Bay, Isaac was freed after several community members, including Dr. David Pelcovitz, chartered a plane and rescued him.
American society is preoccupied with rights. Judaism is preoccupied with obligations.
On his radio show yesterday, Dennis Prager talked about consumer obligations. He mentioned a woman who went into Sammy’s Camera and took 30 minutes of a salesman’s time selecting a camera. Then she asked him, “Do you know where on the internet I can get this cheapest?”
“We all want to save money. Does feeling good about yourself on a moral basis, is that worth $20? Does leaving the store saying I did the right thing, I helped keep a local store in business, does that count for anything?”
And a few of you consumers — we won’t name names — may be committing outright fraud.
Let’s start with airlines, one of the most regularly complained-about sectors of the service economy, according to the Haggler’s highly unscientific findings. John Lampl, a spokesman for British Airways, gave an overview of the kind of shenanigans that fliers routinely try. When all of those European flights were grounded by that volcano in April, for instance, the airline offered to give every passenger $125 a person, per night, to cover hotel costs.
“So we had a lot of people who apparently just stayed with friends and then wrote out receipts, ‘Three nights at the Waldorf-Astoria: $2,000,’ ” he says. (For the record, the airline stuck to its limit.)
The airline also sees a wide assortment of luggage-related scams; it seems that an uncannily high percentage of people whose bags are lost claim that their bags were filled with furs, computers, and maybe lots of couture clothing.
In the realm of religion, theological brilliance rarely comes close to a happy personality in its ability to attract (healthy) people to a given faith. The best arguments for a religion are that its adherents are better (more moral, more deep) and happier human beings as a result of their commitment to that religion.
In light of that, the happiness that the vast majority of Chabad rabbis and their wives radiate is perhaps the most powerful asset in the Chabad rabbi’s arsenal. That they maintain this cheerful demeanor (and I have been with dozens of Chabad rabbis away from their public roles), given their often-difficult financial and social situations (not to mention normal human problems), is a credit to them — and to their faith. This is very attractive to the overwhelmingly non-Orthodox Jews with whom they relate.
Lesson: Nothing is more powerful than a happy demeanor in attracting people — to one’s faith or to one’s self (singles take note).
5. They act nonjudgmental.
Finally, I have come to believe — after initial skepticism given the level of Orthodoxy within Chabad — that they mean it when they say they love all Jews regardless of their level of halachic observance. My own experience had led me to believe that most Orthodox Jews do judge other Jews — consciously or not — by their level of observance. And Chabad takes some flak for this from some other Orthodox Jews. For example, few other “black hat” (“ultra-Orthodox”) Jews are as welcoming to Jews who drive on Shabbat to be with them as the Chabad rabbis.
Lesson: If Orthodox Jews judged fellow Jews solely by their ethical behavior and not by their ritual behavior, both Orthodoxy and Jewry would be much better off.
On his radio show Monday, Dennis Prager says: “Mel Gibson is a troubled man. I have more pity to him than hate. I don’t think he is a danger to the country.
“I think there’s a larger issue than what a man thinks about minorities in his private conversations.
“Privacy. The notion that a man ranting at his girlfriend is now played for the world is very disturbing. The vast majority of human beings in the midst of terrible anger, particular in a relationship, say terrible things. It’s none of my business.
“Americans on the left are keen on the right to privacy when it comes to extinguishing the life of an unborn human but when it comes to the right of privacy of what you say privately in a phone call to your lover, then the left is thrilled to violate the most primal notions of privacy.”
“It’s a terrible thing that these private phone calls were recorded and then placed on the internet.”
David posts: “Because every human being is the Child of God.”
Crissy posts to my FB: “Are you saying Jesus Christ is or isn’t the Son of God?”
Luke says: “Judaism has always believed in a complete separation of man and God. The Torah says God can not take human form. The idea of it is completely ludicrous for a Jew. A Jew can not accept these distinct Christian beliefs, Crissy, but it’s fine for non-Jews if they want to believe such things. Just so long as they lead ethical lives, they can believe what they want, and will have a place in the world to come. It is theoretically possible for God to take human form, but no Jew can accept this.”
Crissy says: “So the Torah has authority over the Bible? and now I have to ask you from your last comment… do Jews believe that leading ethical lives is what gets you to heaven? or do they even believe in heaven (since you said world to come)?”
Luke posts: The Torah is the first five books of the Bible. Jews believe that all good people have a place in the world to come (based on your deeds). Jews don’t speak about “heaven” and “hell” preferring terms such as “Afterlife.”
For Jewish views of Jesus, see these books by Hyam Maccoby.
David posts: “Crissy, I don’t mean “son” literally, of course. Like Luke says, Judaism doesn’t accept God taking on a human form. That’s why we are ALL created in His image, and why we are all His “children.” At the same time, we respect the fact that there are other paths to God that differ significantly from ours.”
Crissy posts: “I believe we are all created in his image. I am not sure what the Torah says but the bible says that Jesus is the son of God and he was sent to heaven as a sinless human. Do you just believe the first 5 books of the Bible or the entire Bible? btw – I am not trying to be confrontational and I will look … See Moreat the links. I am just wondering why Luke chose to be Jewish instead of Christian. I had this thought that since he is so brilliant maybe it was because it was more intellectual.”
Luke says: Jews believe in the Bible, but we have never regarded the New Testament as part of the Bible and we’ve never seen it as a source for truth of any kind, any more than you would see the Koran or the scriptures of the Hindus as a valid source of religious truth for you a Christian.
The Gospels say we should come to God like little children. There is nothing like this in 4,000 years of Judaism. We come to God with our adult brains and a simple Jew (an am haaretz) can never be a good Jew according to the Talmud. You have to study. It is more intellectual and more demanding and more difficult but not nearly as accessible and immediate and thrilling and emotional as Christianity.
Pat: “How does modern Judaism then explain that many Jews didn’t see an incompatibility in accepting Jesus and remaining Jewish? Are the earliest Christians consider heretic or schismatic?”
Luke: Jews have always left their religion for other religions throughout history. Jews worshipped baal. Jews worship Jesus. Both are equally idolatrous for Jews, though not necessarily for non-Jews.
I really enjoyed your post about Tova Schreiber. After so much troubling commentary, it is such a relief to hear a Jewish voice that offers possibility for rapprochement between goys and Jews.
I used to be a big supporter of Israel. I thought that this was one of the places Jews and Christians had a commonality of purpose and values.
After listening to my friendRabbi Rabbs, I realize that most of the frummie community are not Zionists. And I listened on an earlier YouTube to his explanation about the idea of the messianic role before a return to the Holy Land was illegitimate.
So now I merely approve of Israel and no longer describe myself as a supporter. I vaguely wondered why Benjamin Netanyahu spoke at a Conservative temple down here, and now I guess I know why.
I appreciate the fact that most Orthodox Jews are conservative politically and economically. However, that deceived me into believing that Orthodox Jews found a virtue in hard work. Rabbi Rabbs disabused me of this notion when he explained the Orthodox interpretation of the Torah relative to the difference between learning and work. Apparently Jews value learning and have a mediocre approval of work. And moreover apparently there is the colloquial notion that goys should be providing the work. (Protestant work ethic and all.)
Dennis Prager creates something of a dilemma, because when one such as I listens to Dennis, he is flooded with the warm unity of values between Christians and Jews. The place of values deriving from Judeo-Christianity are often seen as one movement, two communities that share the highest and noblest basis for our mutual respect.
Then, of course, one reads the article by Heshy Fried entitled “Orthodox Jews Are Not Usually Friends with non-Jews.” Apparently we do not have a neshamah. We’re not about hashem. One moves into an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood and perhaps listens to our friend Rabbi Rabbs, and then one begins to realize that Dennis Prager is a man with conspicuous virtues and wisdom.
I once had a Jewish friend who said to me in an unguarded moment, “I’ll f*** all the shiksas I want, but I’ll marry a nice Jewish girl.” Since then I’ve heard similar sentiments from other Jewish men, and I’ve heard you and Rabbi Rabbs express the same attitude.
My mother is a shiksa, and Luke, so is yours. And so are all of our sisters and cousins and aunts and grandmothers. They’re all shiksas. And by the way, I don’t want anyone to be envious, but I married a shiksa.
This is all part of a continuing education program for me, and where I expected to find mutuality, I seem to find antithesis. One thing I really do like about frummie Jews and Rabbi Rabbs (whom I nominated for a pickup truck and an NRA sticker) is that at least you guys not only talk the talk, but you walk the walk. That means something.
RABBI RABBS RESPONDS: Greg is dead wrong. He mistakenly claimed that Rabbi Rabbs’ approach turns off non-Jews. Greg needs to be aware that almost all of my Torah Talk viewers, chat room participants, and general followers, fans, and friends are Goyim. FACT.
So, even if it were true what others have written that Jews tend to not befriend non-Jews, that is certainly not the case of Rabbi Rabbs, a breath of fresh air, who came along and has become what one of his loyal non-Jewish followers said on the radio last week, “the Goyim’s best friend”. FACT.
Goyim respect Rabbi Rabbs because he presents himself as a Jew and doesn’t water down his beliefs nor tries to blend in with the non-Jews. Whereas, it is the Jews that have problems with him.
If I served to only do one thing with Greg, to educate him that Zionism goes against Judaism, then my Torah Talks were worth the effort. And, because it took so many years for someone to come along and have the guts to go public and say the truth about Zionism in a way that reached Greg, then I would switch the headline quote of the blog to “Rabbi Rabbs is a breath of fresh air”.
From Dennis Prager.com on Monday: Prager H1: Should a man ranting at his girlfriend be made public? And should we make judgments about that man based on this private rant? These are questions no one asks about the latest Mel Gibson flap… Leftist groups unite to create their own “Tea Party.” But the Tea Partiers are fascists, angry white bigots, owned by Big Business. This group is enlightened lovers of liberty, organizing for the good of the working man, beholden to no one… Tom Hanks is, at best, very confused about the reasons why we fought the Japanese in WWII and why we are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan now… San Francisco is going wild with social engineering: the latest, no soft drinks with sugar… Islamists from Somalia murder 70 people in Uganda, including one American. The cancer is spreading…
Prager H2: Dennis talks to Karl Rove, the former senior adviser and deputy chief of staff to President George W. Bush. His new book is Courage and Consequence… Dennis returns to the Uganda bombing and what it means. The danger to our way of life comes from those who want to spread Sharia-based societies not from Islam, itself…
Prager H3: Sweden was once a much more prosperous country. Then it became socialist and its national wealth declined. Now it’s back on the upswing. The reason: it has recently embraced free market reforms, according a new study… A case study: a college grad turns down a good job because it’s not worthy of him. How can he do it? His parents let him live at home for as long as he wants.
TUESDAY: Prager H1: Dennis plays clips from Dylan Ratigan of MSNBC, Michael Moore, and Oliver Stone, all making strident (and patently foolish) anti-American statements in the last couple of weeks.
Prager H2: Vice President Biden flew into LAX (Los Angeles International Airport) to appear on the Jay Leno Show. This caused four hour delays, according a blogger caught in the middle of it. That’s bad enough, but the lack of explanation from the government bureaucracy is even more vexing… The UN brings shame to itself again. It condemns a torpedo… The President approves a new ban on off shore drilling. Too dangerous, the Administration claims. There are 42,000 wells in the Gulf. One went bad. Say good-bye to a lot of high paying jobs, not to mention millions of barrels of domestic oil… Dennis talks to Jim Roberts, Co-Chair Presbyterians for Middle East Peace. He led the successful fight to stop PC USA from adopting a resolution condemning Israel.
Prager H3: Dennis talks to David Brog executive director of Christians United for Israel (CUFI). His new book is In Defense of Faith: The Judeo-Christian Idea and the Struggle for Humanity.
Khunrum emails: “Right now I’m listening to the Josh Alan Friedman interview. Excellent questions to a worthy subject. You need more Josh Alan’s and less Dennis Prager’s for the non Torah crowd…like me.”
Tova: “I never would consider myself a Bais Yaakov girl… My upbringing was Modern Orthodox. We didn’t eat cholov Yisrael, we listened to rock ‘n’ roll music, we didn’t read the frumie novels. They wanted us to have a normal life. It wasn’t like Judaism needs to be this all-controlling entity that’s going to ruin your life. They wanted us to have fun and they wanted us to be skeptics.”
“I’m the only one in my [Bais Yaakov] class who didn’t go to seminary.”
Prior to Tova’s birth, her mother converted to Orthodox Judaism after a left-wing Protestant upbringing. “My mom is not your typical frum woman. She comes home from work and has a beer. She doesn’t wear a sheitel all the time.”
“My parents always said it’s stupid to stay away from boys. Don’t sleep around with them but talk to boys. Be friends with boys. You need to know them. They’re half of the planet. My school was telling to me to segregate myself from half of society. That’s a dangerous outlook on life. Why do you think so many kids go on shiduch dates after never having talked to a member of the opposite sex and they’re supposed to get married after a few dates…
“If I like a guy, I’m going to see him and I’m going to get involved with him. I’m not going to say, stay away, he’s dangerous. He’s no more dangerous than I am.”
Luke: “What was your reputation in high school?”
Tova: “I was always seen as the really smart but really weird one. I don’t want to say I was unpopular but I was never the most popular kid in the class… They all liked me because I was real. I wasn’t going to adopt their cultural practices just to be on the inside.”
The day after graduating Bais Yaakov, Tova “felt the need to make a statement.” She walked down the street wearing bluejeans and a blood red shirt. It was not very modest by Orthodox standards.
“Everybody was staring at me and I was looking back at them. How am I a different person than I was yesterday? You just didn’t know who I was. Now you know who I am. It’s four years later now and they all get along with me.”
“A lot of people would say, you have to stay away from the goyim. My mother never did that… There were all these family get togethers. They would get together on Christmas time and we’d go up to see them… I never thought of them as less than me. Some of them I felt were better than me because they got to lead a normal life.”
“My grandmother has a set of kosher dishes and cutlery and pots and pans that she keeps in her house so that when my mother comes up to see her, she has something to eat on.”
Luke: “How do you determine what is right and wrong?”
Tova: “I don’t have an answer for that question.”
“This is crazy sounding, but I look to the [U.S.] constitution. What’s the most important part? Liberty. Anything that limits that is immoral.”
“If you are going to ask me, how do you have morality without God? I’ll ask you, how do you have morality with God? All the crazy stuff in the Tanach (Bible). I just try to be kind and let people lead their lives.”
Luke: “How did your yeshiva education prepare you and not prepare you for life?”
Tova: “It didn’t prepare me for life but luckily my yeshiva education is not my education.”
“My parents said to read real books, listen to real music, don’t immerse yourself in this garbage because these people are talentless.”
Tova says that one of her Bais Yaakov teachers would put kids in her closet if they misbehaved and would tape over the mouths of those who talked too much.
Luke: “What do you miss and not miss about the frum community?”
Tova: “I still live in the frum community. I’ve lived in the same house my entire life.”
Most of Tova’s Bais Yaakov classmates are now married. “A lot of my friends marry BTs because they say, hey, this is a guy who’s frum but he’s been around the block. They get somebody who’s frum but he’s normal because he didn’t use to be frum. They’re getting somebody who has sexual experience and experience with the real world. They end up with these in-laws who are so happy that their son became religious that they throw money at them. Most of my friends are not paying for their own rent. Their husbands are learning in kollel and get a stipend. Only one or two of my classmates have husbands who are not learning in kollel.”
“I don’t see myself getting married before I’m 24. I want to get married. I look at them and I get upset that they follow the rules and now they are being rewarded for following the rules and they have a husband and their parents pay the rent. My idea of marriage is very different from their idea of marriage. When I marry somebody, I want to be his life partner and his best friend. They don’t see it that way.”
“I’m not interested in material thing. I’m a capitalist, not a materialist.”
“I used to think of life in absolute terms. I don’t know if I could become frum again. I don’t believe in it.”
“My life is so free now. I love having an open life. I love being able to eat what I want, do what I want, wear what I want, date who I want to date. I’ll never able to get that while being frum.”
“I feel like if I go back, I’ll limit myself.”
Tova’s sister is secular but her mother and brother are frum.
“I’m so Jewish. I’m so Jewish to the core. Most of the food I eat is kosher because the house is kosher… A lot of my life is Jewish by default… I have a star on my neck that I never take off, a magen david. Even if I don’t believe in religion, it’s still my identity. You can be an atheist. You can be a pagan. You’re still a Jew. You’re still going to be having lochs and bagels. You’re still going to be doing Jewish things.”
Luke: “Will you eat pig?”
Tova: “That’s a really blunt question. I have eaten it. I don’t really like it. I hate the smell of pork cooking. It has nothing to do with religion. Bacon is all right.”
Luke: “What about seafood?”
Tova: “Seafood gives me migraines. That could also have to do with that I never ate it my whole life.
“I have tried seafood. The one time I had a lot of seafood one night, I was babysitting for my sister, and she made dinner for me, she made this salad with shrimp in it. I ate it and thought it was nice. Starting immediately the next morning for the next three days, I had a terrific migraine. I thought my head was going to explode. I wanted my friend to shoot me in the face to take me out of my agony.
“My doctor who is Jewish but not religious said, ‘Tova, this is why we don’t eat shrimp. You need to follow these ancient rules.’
“The first time I had a cheeseburger, I got sick because I was not used to digesting milk and meat at the same time.”
“I’ll try it but if it makes me ill, I’m not going to go eat it just to say I’m a rebel.”
Luke: “Are you a Zionist?”
Tova: “Yes.”
“My father knew Meir Kahane. He has all of his books in our house. I may not agree with all of them but I have read them.”
Luke: “Why do you think people hate Jews?”
Tova: “Again, a question I don’t know if I have a good answer for.”
Luke: “Have you tried non-Orthodox forms of Judaism?”
Tova: “Not yet, but I want to.”
Tova says she’ll listen to anything with a beat. “I’m addicted to icecream. I went to my doctor and said, ‘Doc, I’m getting fat. What do I do?’ He said, ‘Stop eating icecream.’ It’s one of the main food groups for me.”
"This guy knows all the gossip, the ins and outs, the lashon hara of the Orthodox world. He’s an [expert] in... all the inner workings of the Orthodox world." (Rabbi Aaron Rakeffet-Rothkoff)
