Zero Grounds: The Case for the Lower Manhattan Mosque

A guest post by Hendrik Hertzberg
From the New Yorker

A couple of weeks before the last election, the Republican nominees for President and Vice-President granted a joint interview to Brian Williams, of NBC. “Governor,” he asked, turning to the distaff half of the ticket, “what is an élite? Who is a member of the élite?” Sarah Palin replied, “Anyone who thinks that they are, I guess, better than anyone else—that’s my definition of élitism.” “It’s not geography?” Williams pursued. “Of course not,” she said. The ticket’s other half blinked and smiled a tight smile. John McCain had something to say.

MCCAIN: I know where a lot of them live.
WILLIAMS: Where’s that?
MCCAIN: Well, in our nation’s capital and New York City. I’ve seen it. I’ve lived there.

These élitists, he went on to explain, “think that they can dictate what they believe to America rather than let Americans decide for themselves.”

It was nice of Palin not to go all geographical on us back then. She has forgotten her patron’s admonition about Americans letting other Americans decide for themselves, but at least she says please, or its Twitter equivalent. In a follow-up to her quickly famous, quickly removed “pls refudiate” tweet, she tweeted, “Peaceful New Yorkers, pls refute the Ground Zero mosque plan if you believe catastrophic pain caused @ Twin Towers site is too raw, too real.” Sic, sic, sic.

Ah, the “Ground Zero mosque.” Well, for a start, it won’t be at Ground Zero. It’ll be on Park Place, two blocks north of the World Trade Center site (from which it will not be visible), in a neighborhood ajumble with restaurants, shops (electronics, porn, you name it), churches, office cubes, and the rest of the New York mishmash. Park51, as it is to be called, will have a large Islamic “prayer room,” which presumably qualifies as a mosque. But the rest of the building will be devoted to classrooms, an auditorium, galleries, a restaurant, a memorial to the victims of September 11, 2001, and a swimming pool and gym. Its sponsors envision something like the 92nd Street Y—a Y.M.I.A., you might say, open to all, including persons of the C. and H. persuasions.

Like many New Yorkers, the people in charge of Park51, a married couple, are from somewhere else—he from Kuwait, she from Kashmir. Feisal Abdul Rauf is a Columbia grad. He has been the imam of a mosque in Tribeca for close to thirty years. He is the author of a book called “What’s Right with Islam Is What’s Right with America.” He is a vice-chair of the Interfaith Center of New York. “My colleagues and I are the anti-terrorists,” he wrote recently—in the Daily News, no less. He denounces terrorism in general and the 9/11 attacks in particular, often and at length. The F.B.I. tapped him to conduct “sensitivity training” for agents and cops. His wife, Daisy Khan, runs the American Society for Muslim Advancement, which she co-founded with him. It promotes “cultural and religious harmony through interfaith collaboration, youth and women’s empowerment, and arts and cultural exchange.”

Pretty scary. Leading the pack of scaredy-cats, along with Palin, was her fellow Presidential mentionee Newt Gingrich, a leading intellectual light of the Republican Party. According to Gingrich, Park51 is “an assertion of Islamist triumphalism,” part of “an Islamist cultural-political offensive designed to undermine and destroy our civilization.” Those who think it’s O.K. are “apologists for radical Islamist hypocrisy” who “argue that we have to allow the construction of this mosque in order to prove America’s commitment to religious liberty.” Gingrich argues for proving our devotion to religious liberty by taking it hostage: “There should be no mosque near Ground Zero in New York so long as there are no churches or synagogues in Saudi Arabia.”

Not all the project’s opponents have embraced the Gingrichian apocalypse. Most, like Palin, have appealed to hurt feelings—“especially the anguish of the families and friends of those who were killed on September 11, 2001,” in the words of a statement issued by the Anti-Defamation League, the venerable Jewish civil-rights organization, which (disgracefully, and in opposition to local Jewish organizations such as the Jewish Community Center in Manhattan and the U.J.A.-Federation of New York) takes the Palin line. There are many 9/11 families who feel differently, and just as strongly. Defending the A.D.L.’s position, its national director, Abraham H. Foxman, reflexively likened the families—the anti-Park51 ones, that is—to Holocaust survivors: “Their anguish entitles them to positions that others would characterize as irrational or bigoted.” No doubt. But, as a guide to public policy, anguish is hardly better than bigotry. Nor is it an entitlement to abandon rationality itself.

Where the “Ground Zero mosque” is concerned, opposition is roughly proportional to distance, even in New York. According to a recent poll, Manhattanites are mostly for it, Staten Islanders mostly against. Community Board No. 1 endorsed it, twenty-nine to one. That’s the council that represents a corner of Manhattan that includes both Park51 and the 9/11 site—and us, too, in the not too distant future. The New Yorker is set to move from 4 Times Square to 1 World Trade Center, once it gets built. Opinion here is divided, depending on whether one’s subway ride will be longer or shorter. No one has a problem with Park51.

Last Tuesday, after the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission, in a unanimous vote, gave Park51 a green light, Mayor Michael Bloomberg celebrated the occasion with a speech that, in its gruff eloquence, will be remembered as a high point in his distinguished tenure. “We may not always agree with every one of our neighbors,” he said.

That’s life. And it’s part of living in such a diverse and dense city. But we also recognize that part of being a New Yorker is living with your neighbors in mutual respect and tolerance. It was exactly that spirit of openness and acceptance that was attacked on 9/11.

That should have been the end of it, but it isn’t. The midterm elections loom. Locally, partisanship—Republican partisanship, to be specific—trumps propinquity. The two leading Republican candidates for governor of New York have made the “Ground Zero mosque” an issue, urged on by Rudy Giuliani, the ex-mayor, and by George Pataki, the ex-governor. Nationally, opposition to Park51 is rapidly becoming a matter of Republican discipline and conservative orthodoxy. By the end of last week, John McCain had joined his former running mate’s chorus. (“Obviously my opinion is that I’m opposed to it.”)

In a famous letter—the one that holds that the United States “gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens”—George Washington offered a benediction:

May the children of the stock of Abraham, who dwell in this land, continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other inhabitants, while every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree and there shall be none to make him afraid.

Lower Manhattan is a little short on vines and fig trees nowadays, though there are some excellent wine bars. Washington’s point remains. His letter was addressed to the Jews of Newport, Rhode Island. But, as he knew, Muslims are Abraham’s children, too. By the McCain standard, George Washington was a three-time loser: as President, he lived in New York City; the nation’s capital bears his name; and, even by the standards of his time, he was an élitist. Nevertheless: he was right. ♦

Read more http://www.newyorker.com/talk/comment/2010/08/16/100816taco_talk_hertzberg?printable=true#ixzz0whMqj1zG

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Save Eliyahu Weinstein! Send me your money!

Apparently, evil, anti-Semtic FBI agents have been sent by the Jew-hater in charge, Barak Hussein-From-Nigeria Obama, to arrest Eliyahu Weinstein a most holy and upright Jewish man from Lakewood on trumped up charges of fraud, money laundering, etc.

This is an outrage, a travesty and also a golden opportunity for me to cash in. I invite you to please join me in the great mitzvah of defending the indefensible, as follows:

For just $25 American dollars I promise to say 3 prayers every single day in which I will call upon Almighty God to undo this grave miscarriage of justice and return Eli Weinstein to the arms of his loving family. I will also throw in some impossible-to-ignore blessings for Zion, Justice, and 16 other wonderful things at no extra charge.

For just $50 American dollars, I promise to send Eliyahu Weinstein's defense team $40 American dollars. I understand that for those of you in the grips of Satanic forces it may seem like funneling the money through me is an unnecessary, extra step. Unfortunately those of you who have reached this self-evident conclusion are deranged, dangerous, and probably heretics besides. Trust me. God wants me to wet my beak.

For just 100 American dollars, I promise you multiple yeshuos and nechamos. Your fat, ugly, daughter will get married; your pimples will clear up; your cholent will never spoil; and your herring will always stink just as herring should. Oh, and Eli Weinstein will also get out of jail free. Guaranteed. Note: There is no time-frame. If none of this happens tomorrow, perhaps it will happen the next day. And if your fat, ugly daughter dies a spinster, rest assured the chuppa will take place in heaven, with all the angels as bridesmaids, and Moshe Rabaynu as mesader kedushin. You can trust me on this; also to doubt me is to doubt God, so beware.

For just $500 American dollars I will arrange to have three bloggers dedicate all of their Torah learning to the merit of Eliyahu Weinstein. Though it should be clear to you that a Lakewood resident like Eliyahu Weinstein has more merits then he will ever need, I really could use the 5 large. By the way, I do not plan to share any of the dough with the other bloggers, and would appreciate your keeping our arrangement on the QT.

DO NOT DELAY Every extra second it takes for you to send me money is an extra second that poor Eliyahu Weinstein must languish in jail with no access to his watches and cars.

Thanks in advance and may all your Torah wishes come true.

FrumSatire's thing here.

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Prove you're not a racist

A guest post by Tzipporah Jethrosdottir

Bloggers Aliza Hausman and MaNishtana, two excellent Jews of color, have recently called their readers' attention to the plight of a 6-year-old Orthodox Jewish boy whose mother lost custody of him. Why was this? Was she beating him? Neglecting him?

No. She converted to Judaism, prompting an anonymous tipster to accuse her of being "psychotic" and "religiously preoccupied."

Her son's well-being, for which you would think groups like Ohel would be extremely concerned, is compromised by the fact that Miryam Kohen and her son, Moshe, are African-American.

What if it were your child?

From MaNishtana:

"While Moshe was tested, admitted and enrolled at the Yeshivah of Flatbush in May of 2010, Ohel removed him from Yeshiva and placed him in a public school instead. Despite Miryom Kohen's religious identification as a Sabbath observer, Miryam's visits have been set up in West Hempstead on Fridays and Saturdays, forcing her to choose between Sabbath observance and seeing her child. The birth mom Miryom Kohen states that she has experienced extreme difficulty getting Ohel to treat her as a "fellow Jew". She has also repeatedly stated that she feels she is being discriminated against because she is a Black Jewish woman of Haitian decent."

The child has now been away from his mother for 15 months.

So, in the month of Elul, I think it's appropriate that we show a little ahavas Yisroel, and support this unjustly removed child and his mother. You can read more on the websites linked above, and then, when you're ready to state that Judaism and Jews care more about Tzedek than about skin-color, click here to sign the petition.

Tzipporah
http://www.midianitemanna.blogspot.com/


DB: Read Manishtana's post. Ohel's treatment of this woman and her son is absolutely deplorable. They deserve to be raked over multiple coals if even 10 percent of these allegations are true.

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A great comment about the nature of skepticism

by Skeptical Believer

One thing that many people don't seem to understand about skeptics is that we would LOVE to find proof of something weird. We find the natural world to be incredibly interesting, from the myriad things you can find in a speck of dust on the ground to the billions of stars, galaxies, nebulae, pulsars, etc. in the universe surrounding us. As people who quest for more knowledge about our universe, we would heartily welcome anything that shows our world to be even a fraction larger, more complex, more interesting and amazing.

Additionally, we will also be the first to tell you that with all of the scientific knowledge we have, there is so much more that we don't know, and so much more to be learned and discovered.

However, the vast amount of undiscovered knowledge out there does not give us license to break the rules when it comes to determining if a cure or claim is valid. We cannot say that even though the evidence says "No," we should go ahead and say "Yes," just because we don't know everything there is to know in the universe. This is not arrogance, as some detractors, ike to claim, rather it is consistency and applying the same standards of evidence and proof to each thing at hand. We know how electricity moves through a ciruit. Is it possible that it could move another way? So far our evidence says what it says. But since we don't know everything, we can't say with 100% that it cannot move a different way. However, we don't then say that since we don't know everything, we can go ahead and design circuits contrary to our knowledge of electrical flow and claim that they can work because, after all, we don't know everything. That is the same sort of standard that we apply to fringe theories and paranormal claims.

If reiki or theraputic touch or crystals or laying on of hands or psychic surgery really could cure disease and other ailments we'd be dancing in the streets and telling everyone to make use of them. If psychics really could predict the future, talk to the dead, remote view, make objects move with their minds we would be the first in line to cheer and to encourage their development so that these things could benefit our world.

Sadly, none of these things have been shown to really work.

Worse, many have been debunked, yet there are people our there more than willing to take the money of suffering individuals and their families by selling them cures and treatments that won't do a thing to cure them.

Perhaps you don't know many skeptics, or perhaps you, like so many people, have a misunderstanding of what we are. You would be hard pressed to find a skeptic who would not want to do one or more of the following: meet a real alien from another world, remote view, astral project, see into the future, cure diseases with crystals or some life force, find water by dowsing, find Nessie, etc.

You see, it's not that we don't like any of these things, that we have sort of hatred for them, in fact, we'd love for these things to be true. Many of us came to skepticism because, initially we were interested in these things, but after reviewing the evidence found that, much as we liked them, we found that the evidence for them was ultimately lacking. This was both disappointing and encouraging at the same time. It was a let-down to know that a favorite "paranormal" phenomenon was most likely completely bogus, but at the same time gaining the knowledge to discern evidence and evaluate claims and learning how to apply it to other things in life was a good thing.

The best thing I ever ate

Food Network has a show, featuring semi-famous chefs discussing their favorite restaurant dishes. As lame as its  sounds I thought it might be fun to do here.

My list follows.

Chicken at Gotlieb's. This is an old, hole in the wall in Williamsburg where only bachelors, and men needing a night out sit at long tables, cafeteria style. The atmosphere is disgusting. The walls haven't been painted since the Truman administration. But the chicken is out of this world.

Burgers at Ken's It seems like a cheap imitation of a cheap fifties style diner. Don't be deceived. The Burger Buddy is perfect (though the fries that come with it are ordinary) Its probably half a pound, thick, juicy and drenched in a great sauce. Worth going to Chicago for that alone.

Steak at Le Marias. I'm speaking of the gone and lamented Downtown Le Maries, where you could sit at the bar, listen to the piano, knock back a drink and tuck into a perfect, cafe style steak. (By the way Jews: a perfect steak is RED OR PINK inside. Trust us.) We miss you Downtown Le Maries

Falafel balls at Hamsa These balls are large, served with great dipping sauces and when the owner is in a nice mood, you can score some for free. Until I tried them , I thought falafel balls were all the same. Ha ha. Boy was I wrong.

Shwarma at Famous Pita Endless salad bar, and fantastic pitas plus the best kosher shwarma in the world, hands down. 

If any other semi-famous bloggers would like to pick up the meme, I'll link you in exchange for a link to this post.

UPDATE

My wife's chicken soup: Here is what you get: Perfect broth containing potatoes, leeks, squash, bits of chicken, broad egg noodles, and  a delicious matzo ball

Kugel: I confess to having no knowledge or expertise when it comes to the favorite food of Eastern European Jews; however, I must endorse the perfect clot of baked fat and potato served by a caterer operating out of New Square. ( I think)

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Morning Mosque Tweets

(1)  Curious. If you oppose [building the] mosque [adjacent to Ground Zero], how large should  [the] no-mosque buffer zone be? 10 blocks? Does prayer in [a] conf room count? [The great David Wilensky wonders what we'll do with Muslims who work in the new Freedom Tower building and wish to pray. Are we going to have a Newt/Palin Eruption every time a Muslim banker or trader tries to fulfill his religious duties?]

(2)  Why do frum Jews who happily (and correctly) use RLUIPA to protect every shul or yeshiva wish to exclude the mosque from RLUIPA protections? [If I want to build a shul on a quiet residential block, RLUIPA says I can. If I want to put a Yeshiva, with dorms, on a dead end street. RLUIPA says I can. The only exception is if the religious use will create a health or safety issue. Otherwise, RLUIPA gives shuls and yeshivas a golden ticket. Why would we Jews want to change that?]

(3) Why do Palin and Gingrich hate the 1st ammendment values of our founding fathers? [The founders are the ones who said that government can't stop the free exercise of religion, and that's what the Ground Zero Mosque issue is about.]

(4) Why do Palin and Gingrich have no respect for property rights? [The mosque owns the building. Since when do we say people can't do as they please with their own property? And though municipalities can impose some zoning regulations, those zoning regulations need to be uniformly applied. You couldn't, for example, ban this mosque if other mosques, synagogues, or churches, already exist in the neighborhood. Also, as RLUIPA makes clear as day, a municipality can't put ANY restrictions on a  religious use, unless they can demonstrate a health or safety issue.]

(5) If its ok when preachers talk about converting the Jews why isnt it ok when imans talk about putting the world under sharia? [I mention this because whenever some boneheaded evangelical says Jews don't go to heaven, or we need to convert them, a boneheaded Jew like Micheal Medved or Daniel Lapin defends them, claiming its okay because "That's their faith" Well, I call double standard. If a Christian can call for us to be converted, an Iman can call for Sharia law.] [Incidentally, I think both claims are obnoxious. Whoever makes them should be loudly jeered.]

(6) If Catholic bigots were hurt and offended about a Yeshiva adjacent to a shrine would we care? [I can imagine Catholics being upset about a Yeshiva being too-close to one of their virgin shrines. After all, we're the "perfidious people" who killed their Lord, and all. If Catholics were to object to a Yeshiva on the grounds that it hurt their feelings, would we give them the time of day? ...and people with hurt feelings about the mosque are different how?

These Tweets were all prompted by an especially shocking comment written by MrsRBS. Here is what she said: "please take your statements and repeat them word for word to a family member who lost a loved one. i dont recall the bill of rights stating that an islamic cultural center has the right to open on such an such street across from a terrorist attack on our soil. nobody is denying them the right to open their doors anywhere else that they choose. how dare you."

A short list of the things MrsRBS. doesn't understand would include:

(1) The law: Their right to build the mosque is undefeatable. RLUIPA trumps all.
(2) The Bill of Rights: Free exercise of religion, means free exercise of religion, not free exercise of religion so long as no ones feelings are hurt.
(3) How fighting the mosque hurts Jews: OJs use RLUIPA all the time. If you weaken RLUIPA, you weaken yeshivas and shuls.
(4) That hurt feelings don't trump settled law, or civil rights: Look, I understand that people are upset about this. I am sympathetic to their hurt feelings. But I don't want to live in a country where hurt feelings are the final word. I don't think you do either. That's PC gone wild.
(5) If you'd like me to repeat all this word for word to someone who lost someone on 9/11 I will. I'll be calm and sympathetic as I help them understand that an America which protects the civil rights of everyone is part of  what the sacrifices of 9/11 were about.

COMMENTS ABOVE MAY HAVE SOUNDED MEAN.
I THANK AQU FOR PROVIDING THIS TRANSLATION:

The Muslim group wants to open the ICC two blocks from Ground Zero. Many have voiced offense/hurt/suspicion/anger etc. regarding this plan, and that is understandable. However, those opposed to the ICC for those reasons are trying to prevent the ICC from being built, not on any legal grounds, but on their offense/hurt/suspicion/anger. Unfortunately for them, the law - in this case, bolstered by RUILPA - does not have a provision that says projects which cause offense/hurt/suspicion/anger can be stopped soley because of the offense/hurt/suspicion/anger felt by some. So, while they are free to bring up their offense/hurt/suspicion/anger, they cannot use it as the primary reason why the ICC should not be allowed to be built.

The Muslim group has gone through every legal channel required, and they have been approved. So, according to the law, there is nothing to prevent them from building the ICC. Therefore, they have a legal right, and there is no legal basis for denying them that right. The law also says that anyone who wishes is free to feel offense/hurt/suspicion/anger about this project. And building the ICC will not change that. Those who feel offense offense/hurt/suspicion/anger about it today will be free to do so tomorrow and will continue to be free to feel offense/hurt/suspicion/anger after it has been built.

So, what this means is that the opposition to the ICC will remain opinion, and only opinion, and will not and cannot become a legal reason to prevent the ICC from opening. Those opposed are free to hold and voice their opinions, but they cannot expect those opinions to form a legal basis for stopping the project.

If there is found to be a health or safety problem with the ICC, then it can be prevented, otherwise, there is no legal challenge to the project.

Faith healing always works

I happen to believe faith healing is always successful, but not because Oral Roberts or Pat Robertson or any of a dozen or so Hassidic Rebbes who claim to be able to work wonders actually have the power to force their deity of choice to work wonders.  No, its simpler than that. The reason faith healing always works is because it is unfalsifiable.

If you're sick, there are three outcomes. You can get better; you can die; or you can linger for a long time and then either die or recover. On the way to these outcomes, however, there are usually lots of ups and downs. You can rally, go into decline, recover, and then have a relapse. Some days you feel better, some days you feel worse. That's the natural course for most illnesses, especially if you're under the care of a physician.

All the faith healer needs to do is to have a few canned answers prepared, as follows:

:: If you recover, or start to feel better, the faith healer takes credit.

:: If you rally, but then decline, the faith healer says, "We almost had it! More money, or prayers, please!" 

:: If you decline and die the faith healer says,  "You came to me too late!" or "You didn't pray or pay enough."

All the faith healer needs to do is take credit for the small successes that occur over the long course of any illness, and blame the sick person for any setbacks. 

Now, let me be clear. With the exception of some charlatans I don't think the Jewish faith healers realize they are practicing a deception. For the most part, I think the Hasidic Rebbes and Roshei Yeshova believe in their own powers, and do not intend to deceive. I also think Pat Robertson, the faith healer who tried to run for president as a Republican, fully believed in Jesus's power, and in his own power to invoke it. However, there are Jewish and Christian charlatans (among which I count one particular hasidic Rebbe based on first hand testimony I've been forbidden to share) and they are liars, cheaters, and fraudsters --and they know it. 

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Daily Show on the Mosque

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Municipal Land-Use Hearing Update
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Municipal Land-Use Update - Ground Zero Mosque
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

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Have you been faith healed? Testimonials wanted

Have you ever been healed via the blessing or prayers (your own, or someone else's)? If so, I'd like to hear more about your case. I'm working on.... something.

Thanks

DEFINITIONS

For the purpose of the inquiry, being "healed" means:

(1) Evidence in the form of a lab report, X-ray, or similar exists of a condition

(2) Evidence in the form of a lab report, X-ray, or similar exists from a later date demonstrating the condition has been resolved.

(3) A statement from at least one Medical Doctor that this outcome was outside of the norm.

If you have these three things, and attribute the healing to a blessing or prayer please contact me. 

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Anti-Corboda Ads Approved (and I approve too)

A Guest Post By E. Fink

The MTA has approved a pretty powerful anti-Cordoba Center ads.

Here is the ad:

I find the ad obscene. It is provocative, misleading and presumptuous all in one.

However, as much as the ICC has a right to exist, this ad has a right to exist as well. The same laws that protect the ICC, protect this obscene ad. (Note: If the ad was so incendiary as to cause violence it would NOT be protected by the constitution, in which case it would lose my meaningless approval as well)

The irony is that the folks behind the ad can hide behind the 1st Amendment but would deny the same rights to the Cordoba Center.

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Immanuel Shows Their True Colors

A Guest Post By E. Fink

For the second time in recent memory, Immanuel is in the news. A few months ago the Supreme Court of Israel ruled that the Bais Yaakov was discriminatory towards Sephardi girls. Parents went to jail for defying a court order and eventually order was restored.

The frum bloggers defended the holy Jews of Immanuel. "There is no intolerance here" the leaders of the community proclaimed. And many folks bought it.

Yesterday we learned that for driving a go-kart, a girl (non-male) will get thrown off the go-kart, the go-kart will get damaged, the owner of the go-kart will get cursed and the brass of Immanuel does not seem to have a problem with all this.

To me, this completely undermines their credibility. Is this the community of tolerance and unity that we were told about? Even if I was willing to submit that the Bais Yaakov saga was invented by the courts and the "left wing media", the go-kart story tells me what I need to know about Immanuel.

They ARE intolerant. Or at the very least, intolerance from their rabbis is present and acceptable in their community.

To the credit of the frum blog readers and commenters, the condemnation of this crazy go-kart rabbi has been near universal. I just haven't heard anything out of Immanuel yet...

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Rabbi dumps girls out of go-karts

A Guest Post by Rabba bar bar Chana

Apparently, it’s now assur for girls to participate in Go-Karting. According to an article on Ynet:

An Emmanuel rabbi upset at the sight of go-karting girls stormed the course and caused damage to the facility…

The confrontation ensued after several girls arrived at the go-karting course in the religious community. ‘Usually this doesn't happen, as I respect the spirit of the community, but one of my employees brought some young relatives who really wanted to try it out so I let them do it,’ said Amram Gutman, one of the facility's owners.

However, not everyone in Emmanuel liked the idea of girls sitting behind the wheel, and one resident present at the site informed local Rabbi Yehoida Gadasi of the breach.

‘He stormed the course, forced the girls to get out, lifted the go-karts, and simply broke them,’ one eyewitness said. ‘He turned the cars over and slammed them on the floor while uttering quite a few curses.’

This horrible breach of tzniyus could have been entirely avoided if we didn’t allow women to drive. But allowing frum women to drive cars obviously inspired these girls to emulate their mothers.

Rabbi Gadasi, a modern-day Pinchas, took action to save B’nos Yisroel from the evils of go-karting. He should be praised! I suggest that we all support Rav Gadasi in banning any sort of leisure activity for girls. Better yet, let’s just keep them at home, out of the public eye, where they can learn to be good mothers by taking care of their younger siblings.

And I sincerely apologize for mentioning the word “girls” in a public forum. This normally unforgivable breach of tzniyus was regrettably necessary in this case, and was done only l’shem shamayim, just like Rav Gadasi’s actions in dragging teen girls out of the go-karts.

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Follow up: The Hazzon Ish and his famous sketch

On March 1, 2009 I wrote a post asking for evidence that the Hazon Ish prepared a sketch, used by a brain surgeon, to operate on a tumor.

For those not in the know, the story goes something like this:

1. Guy gets a brain tumor
2. Doctors decide the tumor is inoperable
3. Guy and his doctor go to see the Hazon Ish, an Israeli sage of the last century, who
4. draws a sketch illustrating the correct way to do the operation.
5. The operation is a success; and
6. everyone lives happily ever after (especially Das Torah-niks who say this story "proves" that absolutely everything is contained in the Torah, and that studying Gemarah can produce expertise in the natural sciences.)

A few weeks ago Mishpacha magazine published a photograph of the sketch, as part of a profile on the Hazon Ish. This article was brought to my attention by "Mike" who also referred me to the following photo copy of the sketch and the Hazon Ish's letter in Yeshurun.

I admit to being unable to decipher the sketch, or the letter. I don't know what I am looking at and would welcome an explanation from any brain surgeons who may be in the audience.

What does the sketch show, and what are Hazzon Ish's instructions?

A PUZZLEMENT
The Mishpacha magazine article discusses two sketches, and two cases. In one instance the sketch was drawn by the doctor and the Hazzon Ish solves the puzzle, and suggests a route for the operation; in the other the Hazzon Ish is the artist. Here is all Mishpacha has to say about the second case

Above is the drawing with which the Chazon Ish answered when consulted by Dr. Ashkenazi, the famous brain surgeon. The respected professor refused to perform brain surgery on a patient who'd been referred to him by the Chazon Ish. He'd even answered arrogantly, "If he wants, let him tell me how to operate." Indeed, the Chazon Ish did draw him a diagram of how to operate, and wrote on it: "I am troubled, for the decision has fallen to me, and Heaven will help."

Mishpacha does not name the patient, or say if the operation was successful.Strange, no?


BUT IS IT DAAS TORAH?
Daas Torah, is the claim that everything worth knowing can be acquired through the study of Torah. Does this story prove that the Daas Torah claim is true? Unclear.

Before this story can be accepted as a proof for Daas Torah, we must establish that all the information about the brain came from the study of Torah, and not from the doctor, medical books, or other confidants. I don't doubt that Hazzon Ish was a brilliant man, but the claim of Daas Torah is not proven true if he was an auto didactic who read medical textbooks. Likewise, if the Hazzon Ish received all the necessary background information from a physician and merely solved a problem that had stumped others, this would be evidence of the Hazzon Ish's superior intelligence, but not of Daas Torah.,

Please share this post with anyone who may be able to shed additional light on the subject.

As Wolf points out on the thread, Even if it could be proved that the CI knew this from his Torah learning, there is still another issue to be answered. Namely... why didn't the CI do the operation himself? My guess would be that he recognized that a trained surgeon would be better at the job. But the trained surgeon didn't get his knowledge from the Torah, he got it from secular learning.

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Avi Shafran Worries about the Wrong Orphan

Odd new post from Avi Shafran this week. Briefly summarized, he's encouraging us to say Aleinu with extra special fervor because we live in a time when "evil salivates at the thought of what it would like to do to the Jewish People, when new incarnations of old monsters have risen, it seems, from the ground."

I dislike fear-mongering, and contest the notion that Jews are less safe today than we were at the hundreds of thousands of moments when Cossacks or Nazis or priests or peasant mobs had free reign over us. Still, Avi's advice is harmless enough I suppose: "Praying harder" never made anything worse. The rest of the post, however, is a reminder of Avi's failings and fixations.

Avi calls his post "An Orphan in Shul" and the conceit, elaborately developed, is that the Jewish people have abandoned this prayer. Reading Avi's touching concern for the prayer's feelings, I found myself wondering if Avi has ever written a an article about real orphans. A quick search of his articles  for the word "orphan" came up empty (a similar search for the word "liberal" produced two pages of results) This is significant, and not just because it suggests Avi doesn't care much for actual people, but because of what he says later in article:

Ours are times when it is, or should be, more clear than ever that the conventional roads to hope – diplomatic, military, political – are all dead ends, times for realizing, in the Talmud’s words, that “there is no one on whom to rely other than our Father in Heaven.”

Jewish tradition says Aleinu was written during the first conquest of Canaan, which means it was known and in circulation at the time of almost every crisis the Jewish people have ever faced. Oddly enough, its never mentioned. During the Syro-Ephramite crises, when Assyria "salivated" at the thought of conquering Judah, Issiah did not tell people to say Aleinu, nor did Jeremiah make that suggestion during the final, dark days of the kingdom, though the "monster" of Babylon was on the doorstep. In fact not once do we find a prophet of the Hebrew bible telling people that the Devil's saliva would dry up or that monsters would disappear if only Aleinu was said properly. What we have instead is a plain promise that God will protect us if we protect real orphans. For example

...if you do not oppress the alien, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your forefathers for ever and ever - Jer 7:6,7

What a missed opportunity for Avi! Instead, of offering us a new-fangled solution, he could have gone back to  tradition, the real tradition of our prophets, and encouraged us to invite divine favor in the old fashioned way. Rather than worrying about a metaphorical orphan, Avi should have reminded us about the real orphans, and the old guarantee we have from God. Instead of calling for more fervent praying, Avi should have followed the prophets and demanded acts, acts that benefit real people, in real ways; acts that according to our own tradition offer a sure promise of salvation.

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A guest post by David A.

One premise that is very basic to the student of the Talmud and can be found on nearly every page of the Gemorrah is the concept that the Torah was written with great precision and that every single word, maybe every single letter, is expected to mean or convey something. And, therefore extraneous words are used to infer new laws or details within a law.

Many years back, on a Shabbat, I am sitting in shul during kri-at hatoreh. To be honest, I’m quite an impatient person and have trouble listening to the leining, so I usually spend the time quietly reading something on my own. But on this particular occasion I am actually listening to the parsha. It was Re-ay and the baal korei is intoning the section on forbidden animals (Devarim 14). Now, aside from a few differences in choice of verbiage and one major contradiction in law, superficially, this section seems a shortened repetition of the same laws as promulgated back in Parshat shimini.

As is well known that within the section, the Torah provides a listing of 21 birds that are forbidden to be eaten (Only 20 in Lev.). As the reader chants verse Dev 14:13 V’hara, v’et ha-eiya, v’ha’da-ya l’mina.

I flip back to Lev. (11:14) and read the corresponding verse as given there.

V’et ha’da-ya v’et ha-eiya, l’mina.

So, as can readily be seen, in the verse (Dev. 14:13) consisting of only 5 words there are 3 textual variations vis-à-vis Lev. Three in one tiny verse. Now, for a precision document, this just doesn’t make sense. What exactly is the meaning of these changes? Did Moishe forget what he wrote just 40 years ago? Did he not bother to check his copy of the earlier text?

So, I consulted the standard commentaries. It doesn’t/didn’t seem to bother anyone among the main ones. (or did I miss someone). Over the years, I’ve asked the question to many of our learned crowd and most just shrug their shoulders. It troubles no one. Some call upon the famous “fun a kashei shtarbt men nisht” (I.e. One doesn’t die from a question.), as if that provides a very insightful response. Obviously there is something wrong with me.

However, in my most humble opinion, the invocation of this famed sound bite should only be permitted when there is truly NO conceivable reasonable response.

I know, I know, the simple, quite obvious and very likely correct explanation cannot be invoked as it is considered to be “outside the pale”.

An Israeli Rabbi's experience with moderate Muslims

A guest post by MEKUBAL

Shortly after receiving semikha from the Rabbinate, I landed my first job as an assistant Rabbi in a kiruv community. The building that we were turning into a synagogue happened to be right next to an ICC(Islamic Cultural Center). One day I was doing some work in the shul, when I heard a knock on the door. Imagine my surprise when I open the door to find a man with a beard longer than mine and wearing a kufi standing there. He came over to welcome his new neighbors to the town, and didn't realize that we were Jews, and that we were intending to build a synagogue. I invited him to look around, and gave him the nickel tour. He invited me to come see his ICC after I was done with what I was in the middle of. In the meantime one of our big donors shows up, he happened to be a Persian who owned a carpet shop. I told him what was going on, he disappeared and came back 20min later with three, from what I am told, very nice Persian Rugs. We went over to the ICC together, got the nickle tour and dropped off his gift of the rugs. It was the start of a great relationship. They helped us get Kosher meat into the local grocery store, allowed us to use their parking lot for big events, and we allowed them to use our sizable yard for their picnics and such. They weren't Jihadists, and while we were Pro-Israel, we were not Meir Kahane breed Zionists.

Through that relationship I learned a great deal about Islam. Most notably that the 85% of muslims who are moderates, live in some sort of fear of the Jihadi extremists, simply because they are managing to take control around the world. Jihadists don't want to just kill Jews and Infidels, Muslims who do not meet their exacting standards, or particular theological perspective are also prime targets. Yes radical Islam is spreading like a plague through the Muslim world, and there are various reasons for that, most notably many of the Regimes in those parts of the world, see a great deal of benefit in fostering radicalism, as then they can be seen as being on the "right side" and can turn the anger and angst of populations who often live in poverty and some form of oppression by Nouveau monarchies and dictatorships against an "other" who is ultimately supposed to be responsible for all of their problems(think Hitler and Germany).

What this has bread is an internal struggle between those who wish to keep a moderate and I would dare say normal face of Islam, which even in its fundamentalist forms, poses little actual danger or threat to the world around it other than to be a highly evangelistic religion, and the extremist Jihadi forms of Islam that would prefer to persuade with violence first. Because most Western countries wouldn't take kind to clan wars happening within the boroughs of their cities, the way this battle is often fought is with the dollar and influence. Because so many of the oil wealthy regimes have turned to this tactic, we find oil money pouring into western countries to fund Islamic education and mosques and such, and with that money comes a certain degree of control. How this plays out was documented beautifully in the UK channel 4's Dispatches programUndercover Mosque and in its follow up program Undercover Mosque: the Return. You also get a sense in both of those programs as to how many Muslims feel angry about what is happening.

So what does all of this have to do with Ground Zero ICC, which many are calling a mosque. Yes an ICC typically does have a mosque in it. They also have places for muslims to buy Hallal foods, purchase Islamic garments, Islamic books, and movies. Activity centers where they can hit the gym in a way the caters to their religious sensitivities, however I digress. How this relates is quite simple. By fighting against (what appears to be) a moderate muslim group, you are in fact playing right into the hands of the Jihadists. Your own actions fuel their propaganda of how the West is hostile to Islam. As well you drain the resources of groups that, in their own way, are fighting the same fight against terrorism. By depleting those resources, you also shove further to the point of needing to seek outside support, which may lead to them falling in with Jihadist donors who will then seek control and influence.

Ultimately I think that this ICC should be permitted to be built and I don't find it an insult to those who died in 9/11 because innocent Muslims died as well. However I do think that if it is permitted to become a place where Jihadist ideology is espoused that would be an insult to all those who died in the 9/11 attack both muslim and everyone else. Denying its right to be built is as much an insult to the victims of 9/11, at least in my mind. Those people died for no other reason than they lived in a western democracy that a group of Jihadis decided was the enemy of their fantasized Islamic state. The victims were martyrs to the cause of freedom and liberty. However in attempting to deny the ICC we infringe upon the very freedoms and liberties guaranteed in the US Constitution, and thus we give the Jihadis what they want. We destroy the American way of life. To me that is the greatest insult of all to those who died on account of America's freedoms and the way they are perceived around the world.

At the very least I say leave the moderate muslims alone. Let them follow their religion within the borders of the US in peace. If you are really angry at the people and the Islam that perpetrated the 9/11 attacks, you may even want to consider helping these moderates, as we share a common enemy with them.

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Pre shabbos insults

I was looking for some pre-shabbos laughs, but found this instead. I have thick skin, but don't you find Colbert's shtick a little over the line here?

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Israel's New Bird
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes 2010 Election Fox News

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