UPDATED: Really? Blogistan?

UPDATED at 12:15 p.m

Rabbi Nathan Slifkin reports that polemicist extraordinaire Avi Shafran has used his Ami column to denounce the blogging community (by which I mean blogs that don't walk with him in lockstep or promote his personal ideology) as "Blogistan."

I have not yet been able to get my hands on the new column, but this isn't the first time Rabbi Avi has sunk to describing his opponents with this nickname: (UPDATED: the article has been sent to me. See it after the jump.)

• Avoid the untamed jungles of Blogistan
  by Rabbi Avi Shafran, January 4, 2009
  
• Hearing Voices
  By Avi Shafran, on August 2nd, 2011
  
• The Daily Jews
  by Avi Shafran

I'll let Rabbi Slifkin explain why any thinking person ought to find this hysterical:

I was further taken aback to see Rabbi Shafran derisively describe the world of blogs as "blogistan." The suffix "-stan" is usually used to describe an entity that has taken on attributes of restrictive, dictatorial theocracies that are common in the Moslem world. Is it not ironic that Rabbi Shafran, who insists on the unqualified, unimpeachable authority of Daas Torah and the suppression of any public criticism, uses the term "-stan" to describe those who seek precisely the opposite?

Yes, of course its ironic. Its also deliberate. Avi is very good at what he does, and its no accident that he is trying to linguistically connect his enemies with each other, even if the underlying logic is absent.

UPDATED: See the full article, with my notes, after the jump

KORACH@BLOGSPOT.COM
by Rabbi Avi Shafran

Sneering cynicism. Self-glorification in the guise of advocacy. Ostentatious observance cloaking rank jealousy. “Democracy” in the pursuit of evil ends. Haughtiness pretending to the selfless pursuit of justice and truth.

What do all those things bring to mind?

A) The parsha we read on Shabbos.

B) Much of the “Orthodox Jewish” blogosphere.

Both, you say? You win.

Avi is being too modest. As laboriously documented on this blog Avi's own articles often display "Sneering cynicism." and "Self-glorification in the guise of advocacy." He's also an old hand at "Haughtiness pretending to the selfless pursuit of justice and truth." 

Korach is a good example for our times. Good, that is, in the sense that he perfectly exemplifies the similarly “populist” contemporary congregation that breeds under the rocks of Blogistan.

We deserve to be free from our so-called leaders, Korach announced—and, even without the benefit of an instantaneous electronic soapbox, attracted followers to “the cause.” We are perfectly capable, he declared, to their excited panting, of sitting in judgment over those who claim to have been designated to stand at the helm of the Jewish ship. The entire people are holy, after all. All of us heard the voice of Hashem at Har Sinai. All of us are able to see things for ourselves as they really are, not as our “leaders” tell us they are. Moshe and Aharon were “chosen” to lead us? Please. We know better. Surely you do too.

This old canard again? Look, the bloggers aren't at war with the leaders of Torah Judaism. Can you name a single blogger who has a problem with Rav Elyashiv, Rav Chaim Kanievsky, Avrohom Lein Shteinmen, or either Feinstein brother? I know I can't.  Have you ever seen a blog post attack Rav Hershel Schachter?  I know I haven't.

So the issue for "Blogistan" isn't the Torah leaders, but the courtiers who manipulate them, using their names and some twisted approximation of their teachings to aggrandize themselves. Take for example the reprehensible case of Yehuda Kolko. Rather then take action against his chief protector, a low-level tough guy named Lippy Margolis, many medium level leaders and rabbis, including the disgraceful Jewish Press, prefered to make angry noises about the method the bloggers used to finally take Kolko down. We didn't use proper channels, they said. We didn't respect Lippy Margolis's status and position. We leveled out accusations anonymously. etc. etc. etc. But ignored among all the complaining, complaining led by people like Avi Shafran, was the sick irony that if men like Avi Shafran hadn't falsely convinced themselves of Lippy's general excellence the bloggers would not have had to do anything. Had the courtiers concerned themselves with children instead of reputations, no one would have ever heard of blogs like UOJ. 

In fact, the Korachites broadcast, we have good reason to suspect some not-so-nice things about our so-called leaders, things that show them to be not only unworthy leaders but uncaring, corrupt, and worse. Have you heard, for instance, about what Moshe, the “chaste” and “modest” man, has been up to in his free time…?

Again Avi is practicing misdirection and deception. The blogs do not attack "leaders." 

The rabbis, they proclaimed sagely, are just protecting their perks. We don’t need such “leaders” telling us how to conduct our lives and what or whom to respect. We know better than they do, we see more clearly than they. They are the establishment. We, after all, are The People.

The neat thing about a blog is that it can't rule by fiat. No one listens to a blog, and certainly not an anonymous blog, unless it makes a convincing argument. If those arguments are beating your arguments, Avi, the correct response isn't to fume against free expression or to offer pathetic ad hom attacks such as this article. but timprove your arguments. The fact that Avi instead attempts to undermine his critics with name-calling and challenges to their motives tells us only how bankrupt he is intellectually. 

And the truly religious ones, too; just ask Mrs. Ohn ben Peles, whose uncovered head we would not countenance. We’re the ones who really care about all Jews, about Jewish values, about Jewish children. Our “leaders,” by contrast, are clueless, if not worse.

Third time: We're not challenging the leaders. We're challenging the askanim and second tier big mouths who give us scandal after scandal. For a summary see this

Sound familiar? Of course it does.

Yes, there are responsible Orthodox Jewish bloggers, who seek to share community news or ideas and observations with others, and to post informative, not libelous, readers’ comments. Some explore concepts in Jewish thought and law, others focus on Jewish history and society.

The Korach blogs, though, are a separate category. Their anger, snideness, half-truths, and bald lies attract like-minded people like rancid meat draws flies. Together, the bloggerei and their devotees march proudly into what they believe will be a bright, shiny future, one devoid of the old bearded men who so vex them.

They’re not insincere. They believe what they say; that, in fact, is the greater tragedy. Korach, too, was convinced that he was right. Why else would he have summoned all the people to witness the “showdown” with Moshe? Did he think for a moment that what happened was even a possibility? Surely not.

I'll note that the earth has yet to open up and swallow us. Nor has a fire come down from heaven to consume us. Live by the analogy, die by the analogy. Or in other words, if we haven't suffered the fate of Korah and his band, perhaps we're not korach?

But sincerity is no guarantee of rightness. Evil that recognizes itself is a rare bird.

Pot. Kettle.

Perhaps that’s part of the meaning of the strange admonition “Do not be like Korach and his congregation” (Bamidbar, 17:5), which Rav (Sanhedrin, 110a) sees as a warning against fomenting strife among Jews. We don’t find any such warning against being hedonistic “like Lot” or hypocritical “like Esav.” Why a special prohibition here? Might it be because of the natural pull that “populism” propelled by cynicism and slander can exert, and the ease with which even fine people can be swayed by professions of righteousness and sincerity? Because Korach-ism is a particularly easy (forgive me) hole into which one can fall?

The modern-day disparagers of Torah scholars and selfless communal leaders aren’t likely to change (though we must never give up the hope that they will). They may be too certain that they “know the score” and that they can’t possibly be misguided.

Here's the score (in part)

(1) Lipa Margolis protected a child abuser named Kolko for 25 years. The Novimisnsker Rabbi refused to do anything about it on the grounds that Flatbush was too far away. Agudah said nothing, even though Kolko worked at their camp, and the Novimsker is on their board. As a follow up Agudah joined with the Catholic Church to fight for molester-protecting legislation, and propagated (misquoted) rulings that required everyone threatened by molestation to speak to a Rabbi before speaking to the police. Did this have anything to do with Torah leaders? No.

(2) The Satmar community in Williamsburg is aggressively harassing witnesses in the Weberman case, but all we hear from Agudah is that we should continue to bring child molestation accusation to the very sort of people perpetrating the harassment. Does this have anything to do with Torah leaders? No.

(3) Natan Slifkin was attacked, slandered and harassed by the Torah-true noise machine for publishing a legitimate Torah view on the age of the universe. The whole campaign was manufactured by a "Rabbi" who was later convicted of a mortgage fraud, and another "Rabbi" who was later discovered to be sexually harassing adult women. Does this have anything to do with Torah leaders? No.

(4) Lipa Smeltzer was banned, then unbanned, absent anything resembling a fair investigation, creating a huge embarrassment. Does this have anything to do with Torah leaders? No.

(5) Most of the top ten wealthiest Rabbis in Israel are con men, plain and simple, who prey on the stupid with lies and bogus promises. Has Agudah stepped up to the challenge of shutting them down. No. Does this have anything to do with Torah leaders? Again, no.

I could keep going. The point is that (1) these stories that have occupied the bloggers nothing to do with "Torah leaders" (2) People like Avi Shafran say and do precious little about them, preferring instead to whine about blogs.

But one hopes that those who have ever come across the knights of Blogistan’s defamations and obloquies and found themselves impressed by the apparent sincerity with which they are proffered paid attention when the Torah was read on Shabbos.


© 2012 AMI MAGAZINE

The above essay may be reproduced or republished, with the above copyright appended.



Search for more information about ### at4torah.com


Search for more information about Newspeak at4torah.com