The Same Old S**t, Redux

It's so ridiculous that I shouldn't be bothered with it, but I have to admit I'm disturbed when people find it's only "common sense" that ____ (insert minority) is/was/has a(n)_____ (insert character flaw or crime) and we (insert name of patriotic, religious) people should be wary of the (insert danger) that awaits us if we ____ (insert smile, talk, laugh, have sex with, breath the same air as, etc.) these _____ (insert ethnic/racial/religious slur describing said group) any longer.
Do you see how stupid this formula is? Yet, without fail we continue to go along with it. Who the "offending group(s) of the moment" may be doesn't matter; we have found a scapegoat to blame for whatever it is that we can't or won't change. It's easy, it's quick, and it's safe---plus the fact that we've gotten it off our chests. Or have we? There's always a new "problem" that we need somebody to blame for, of course.
Why? And why always some "mysterious" other? Well, obviously, if we blamed ourselves or people "like" us, then the stupidity of the whole Blame Game would look idiotic to us (and what's the fun in that?)
It's the same with this "war on terror", whatever country thumbs its nose at us, and this election. If it's not "International Jewry" scheming to control the world, then it's Russia, or Outer Slabobia, or Republicans or Democrats---and so on ad nauseum. Any enemy will do, it seems. Just make one up. Who cares? The "good" people have to be united against something, right? Fine, we're "united", so now what?
And this is where the whole game gets ugly, sometimes lethal, and difficult-to-impossible to reverse. Look at the headlines. How is it that a tiny country no bigger than New Jersey (if it's as big) controls so much? Answer: it doesn't. It's that simple. None of these "monsters in our heads" (as Lippmann famously put it) are actually real. Enemies? Yes, we have enemies, but it seems that we constantly need more. At this rate, we'll have alienated the whole world---if we haven't done so already. People, use your brains and think, for once.

Makow--Either Self-Loathing Jew, Jew For Yushke, Or Fraud

I wrote a post about this man---Henry Makow---and said I didn't think he really was a Jew despite his claim to being one. Maybe he's only a descendant of one---like Caspar Weinberger. At any rate, I simply cannot allow this bullshit to go unchallenged any longer.
His latest blog (the url is http://www.savethemales.ca/000322 html) is nothing less than a vicious attack on ALL Jews (remember he said it was only the Zionists, not the rest of Jewry who were guilty?) As I feared, his "nice guy" demeanor has been shed to reveal his true agenda, which is to "defend" Christianity. Oh yes, he's sooo sorry to have to say this (sound familiar?), but Judaism is "flawed" and the Pharisees "hijacked" the religion that Moses founded. He's shocked, shocked, that these evil rabbis lied to us, that the Sadducees were the real bearers of Mosaic Law but they were shut up when the Pharisees took over.
So how does he know this is so? Why, Christ himself accuses the Pharisees of this. Oh, and by the way, Christ is the real descendant of Moses. Yeah, right---and I'm the pope, too. But that's not the worst of it. He also claims that Jews should see Mel Gibson's diatribe-cum-movie about the crucifixion of You-Know-Who, and they should realize that Judaism is false because of it. You remember Mel Gibson---the actor who was pulled over by the cops for DUI when he began shouting Jewish slurs, then "apologized" but insisted his father (who'd taught him those things) would never lie to him. Well,duh.... No anti-Semite ever thinks he lies. Hitler believed every word of Mein Kampf, but that didn't make it any more true.
I have to feel sorry for Mel, though; who wants to admit a beloved parent has lied to one? Makow, however, is something else, and we've seen too much of these "sorrowful" types lately. As I said last time, it's always a fellow Jew who makes the best anti-Semite. That is---if Makow is, or ever was, what he claims. At any rate, he has the right to claim he's a Jew. I don't believe he is, but who knows? We've all seen the kind of lies the apostates spout to disparage Judaism after converting to Christianity. Makow, sadly enough, probably believes what he says. I almost feel sorry for him as well. Almost. Unfortunately, people like Makow are a dime a dozen, and mostly gibbering idiots. He is not; he writes well, very well, and sounds like an English professor (which he says he was), but it's the hate in his soaring rhetoric and perfect grammar that is to be feared. Whether he is a Jew or not doesn't matter---except that gentiles are easily gulled by his kind. From my own experience I know that people who claim to be Jews are always believed by gentiles. Every time. That is the danger here, because his hateful words will be believed all the more so, even by gentiles who ordinarily like Jews. I've seen it happen---in my own family and our neighborhood. I see it happen today as well. Please go to his website and see for yourself how he makes the most outrageous lies sound absolutely true.
Mel Gibson's movie made the public think, all right. In fact, the public nearly vomited in the theaters from all the blood and gore. I laugh at Mel Gibson,but Makow is as funny as Hitler, and possibly more dangerous.

Should Jews Learn The Christian Bible?

Absolutely! How else are we to successfully defend ourselves against Jews For (Yushke)? These missionaries are smart. They know our religion better than we do, and so are able to distort Torah and Talmud passages to say what they want without us being aware of it.
If you've come across the conspiracy sites, you'll see how anti-Semites use the most outrageous and vile lies to link Zionism to THE NEW WORLD ORDER. Many of these conspiracy nuts are good people who, not being missionaries, are unable to distinguish true from false. Sadly, we're just as bad.
We're lucky, though. There's a website called outreachjudaism. org which is dedicated to combating these assaults. Rabbi Tovia Singer knows his bible---and theirs as well. He is a wonderful speaker whose lectures are fun to listen to, and many of them are free to download! I've downloaded all of them and I find myself fascinated by his wealth of knowledge and his wit. Even Christians come to his lectures, and sometimes become "Noachides"----not converting to Judaism because we don't seek converts, but following the Torah's instructions as applied to gentiles. The righteous gentile who has entered the "gate" and is assured a portion in Olam HaBa. There are only seven laws,(I think) that are required for a Noachide; believing in God, renouncing idolatry, setting up courts for justice, etc. However, one need not even "enter the gate", so to speak, because "The righteous of all the nations have a share in the World To Come".
I'm not qualified to poskin, of course; so I'll not say more about this for fear I'll accidentally get it wrong and cause confusion among you. Nevertheless, this rabbi knows it all! Protestant ministers/Catholic priests/ you name it have been unable to refute him, but he never insults anyone and frequently teaches them a thing or two about their religion as well. As a former Catholic who went to parochial school and was drilled in Catechism every day, I can attest to his knowledge of the Christian bible and theology. While I'm hardly an expert on the bible and Christianity, I've read the Confraternity and King James versions of the bible very extensively before I decided on Judaism. Also, I had the good fortune to have gotten an English translation of the famous Kairite treatise "Faith Strengthened", in which Isaac of Troki refuted every Christian proof text so brilliantly that, to this day, his arguments still stand unrefuted by Christian scholars. I lost it in moving, however, and I miss it.
Rabbi Singer, thank God, more than makes up for that unfortunate loss. Please go to outreachjudaism.org and see for yourself. I wish I knew how to make an url "clickable", but I don't and I'm sorry. Just type in the url as given, though, and you'll get there. You won't be disappointed, I promise you. ( I suppose I should add bli neder to that) Oh well, just go.

Will Israel Really Attack Iran?

Frankly, I hope not. But they're threatening to, and I honestly can't say what they should/shouldn't do because I don't know what the situation is over there. This is one of those times when living here in America can be tricky.
The Israeli Defense Forces probably would do a helluva better job than us if they decided to go ahead, but where does that leave me? As a Jew, people will naturally assume I'm loyal to Israel, and that's the tricky part. No matter what we do/don't do we're in the middle. Go to shul and your neighborhood Jewish Defense League wannabe will butt into any conversation to proclaim our "duty" to support Israel---no questions asked. Your gentile neighbors will also proclaim their "loyalty" to America and no matter what you say they'll still think you secretly favor Israel. It's almost a lose-lose situation here. I'd much rather we'd only have to face zombies; they can be (according to Shawn Of The Dead) muzzled and kept productive, at least.

The Return Of Crazy Orthodoxy

So now it appears that some Ultra-orthodox women in the glorious uber-ghettos of Jerusalem have taken to wearing the burkah, but they call it a "frumka". Here we go again.Will the lust for piety never end? How about being pious on the inside, ladies? Oh but no one will see how pious you are that way. So, in order to show it you'll dress up in sheets from head to toe, huh. Except that no one will know it's you under all that...unless you have your name embroidered on the front.
Honestly, do we need to slavishly imitate every "piety" we see? I hate to tell you this, but what you're doing is hukas ha goyim according to halacha. For you gentile readers, that means "imitating the (idolatrous) customs of other cultures, etc, according to Jewish Law". It doesn't matter how "pious" the custom is, either. Remember, Rabbi Pappas (I think) was severely criticized for following the gentile custom of locking his wife and daughters in the house when he went out; this comes from the days of the Mishna, mind you---nearly two thousand years ago. Do we need another "Chumrah of the Month"? What do you accomplish with all this "piety"? I would think that Crazy Orthodoxy would have more than enough restrictions to satisfy your need for martyrdom.
If you persist, and the rabbis finally approve of it, you will have imprisoned all Orthodox women and girls on a mere whim. Don't for one minute think that there aren't rabbis who would love to impose more restrictions on you. After all, according to the Kitzer Shulcan Aruch it's perfectly legitimate for women to hold their own minyons---until a bunch of oh so "machmir" rabbis forbade it. Aside from Isserles's silly prohibition for women to be given aliyot, the original even states that handling a Sefer Torah is fine for women as well. Do we really want to look like the above photo? Think! Besides, Muslim women will be offended---and for good reason. Let's not start something we might regret down the road. (Note: I apologize for altering the photo and hope its creator will understand)

Supposedly Jews But Probably Aren't

You've likely had a non-Jewish friend who's sent you a website of a hitherto unknown "Jewish" (the person at least claims he/she is) "expert" who breathlessly confesses that yes, the Zionist/Masonic/Illuminati and others are indeed controlling the world through bankers, etc. Maybe these mavins are what they claim to be, but hell, anybody can say they're Jewish. Freedom Of Speech and all that. How do we tell, though?
Fact is, we really can't. There's this website owned by one Henry Maslow, who insists he's a---get this---racial Jew who must "expose" the secret Zionist agenda of the "Jewish" world-bankers. For all I know he may be a self-loathing Jew or a liar, but this kind of nonsense is precisely what we don't need. Non-Jews are quick to believe anything if it's claimed to be from a Jew, of course. I know this from my own experience. My parents would read some smutty novel about "Jewish" life and, if the author had a "Jewish" name, believe every word of it. We all know that far too many Jewish novelists pander to their gentile reader's prejudices as it is. Anyone who's ever read Kemelman's the "(insert day of week)The Rabbi..." series of mystery novels can attest to that fact, although these novels aren't nearly as bad as some of Phillip Roth's. Remember the movie "Goodbye Columbus"?
Unfortunately, to really be sure of someone's "Jewishness" would require the nightmare described by the blog "ON THE FRINGE" (which is an excellent blog here on all-things Jewish whose author and commentators are quite well-informed, and I recommend it ) that, boiled down to its essence is simply Israel's Chief Rabbis deciding who is, or is not, Jewish based on Ultra-Orthodox prejudices and extremism. It's like the South's "One drop" rule; one drop of "negro" blood invalidates your "whiteness". Of course you can see where that would have led, and the South had the good sense not to insist on it, too. This Who Is A Jew? debate has been going on for at least thirty years,but the Ultras now pose a significant threat. Because Israel has a multi-party system in which it's virtually impossible for one party to get enough votes to run a government itself, the majority party must negotiate with smaller parties to form a coalition government; this means the smaller parties can extort huge concessions in exchange for their support, and the religious parties like Shas and Agudath Israel never hesitate to press for bigger concessions every time.
Actually, this Who is a Jew? debate is "who is a rabbi?". Even if your rabbi is Orthodox he won't necessarily "qualify" according to The Gedolai Torah in Israel. Getting back to self-proclaimed "Jews" who push the most ridiculous conspiracy theories, we had better be skeptical. The old adage of the worst anti-Semite being a fellow Jew has been born out over and over again. We certainly don't want a cure that's worse than the disease!

Evil Israel

No, I'm not suggesting that Israel is evil, but there are nuts out there who just can't let go of those "dancing Israelis" when 9/11 happened. It saddens me because, otherwise, these are probably nice people. I chat with one of them, who sincerely insists only Zionists are evil, not the rest of us. Unfortunately, that's the way these things always start, and we have a pretty good idea where it's all going to end, God forbid. After all, there's good ol' Pat Buchanan proclaiming American Jews to be the "amen corner" for Israel, and I'm sure he's not the only one. It's always been my fear that someday the U.S. would attack Israel, and then what do we do? Most non-Jews seem to take it for granted that we are more loyal to Israel than America. Remember, I converted. My father used to rant about Jews loving Israel so much that they should all be deported. And Israel often expects the Diaspora to rubber-stamp everything they do, which doesn't help either. I guess we should have gotten used to this---after some forty centuries. I don't always support everything Israel does, and I'm sure a lot of my co-religionists feel the same, but we're stuck in the middle nevertheless. Let's hope I'm just being paranoid.