Bill Knoles, who loved parties and people, was alone. Bill
Knoles, who hated the cold, was alone on Cape Cod, freezing
in December. Sometime on December 20, William Henley Knoles
put his pocket money and Social Security card on a table.
He took a warm bath. In the bathtub he slashed his throat
open with a razor blade. He bled to death.
Miriam Linna writes:
Ron [Haydock] was last seen alive on August 12, 1977. He met
that day with [Ray Dennis] Steckler, who had relocated his
film operations to Las Vegas. Ray recalls Ron being obnoxious
and out-of-control. When he drove him to the airport, he assumed
Ron would fly back to Hollywood. Instead, disoriented and
wobbling, he began hitchhiking home. He was struck in the
wee hours by a semi truck, and was killed instantly.
Brittany A. Daley writes:
Gene Bilbrew [African-American]...[was] reputed to have had
an an insatiable appetite for drugs and alcohol, and a penchant
for white women... By 1974, Bilbew was so destitute that he
was living in the back room of one of Eddy Mishkin's porn
stores. He was still doing artwork... Bilbrew died of a drug
overdose...at the age of 51.
Whenever I read the name "Marc Ballon" next to an article
in the Jewish Journal, I know that the combination of the
particular writer and paper is going to result in the opposite
of the qualities he ascribes to socialist comic Lewis Black
in the 1/28/05 issue: "...[R]azor-sharp tongue and ever sharper
social and political observations."
I read through his entire Q&A with Black because I am a masochist.
A few months ago, I read Ballon's
cover story on Black with the vague hope that Ballon would
relay one funny joke or anecdote, or, at the least, a well-turned
paragraph. I hoped in vain.
In Black's
latest interview with Ballon, he displays his "even sharper
social and political observations" with pithy insights such
as this one on the last presidential election: "You had a
guy who went to war running against a guy who voted for war.
You had no choice."
I assume Black meant Kerry as the guy who went to war and
Bush as the guy who allegedly voted for war, but who knows?
It could just as easily be the other way round.
Only the lame-brains at the Journal regard these as sharp
political observations.
The paper has never encountered a celebrity or leftist activist
it hasn't salivated over (though, to be fair, it has never
encountered a rabbo who didn't sexually molest people that
it didn't salivate over either).
A few months ago, Journal editor Rob Eshman told me: "I think
Marc Ballon, our senior writer, who was 10 years at Forbes
and The LA Times, is terrific."
One reason I thanked God that the Los Angeles Dodgers traded
first baseman Shawn Green to the Arizona Razorbacks a few
weeks is my anticipation that I would no longer have to read
any more adulatory articles about Green in the Journal. Unfortunately,
since the trade, I've suffered through one long Journal article
on Shawn and a repetitive letter to the editor.
Saying goodbye can be hard, which is why I am compelled to
pick up the Journal every Friday after 12 years of steady,
though frequently unhappy, reading.
BOSTON, Jan. 26 (JTA) — Can you image an Orthodox Bar Mitzvah
celebrated in the Arizona desert soon after the Civil War,
with a guest list that includes Apache warriors, gun-slinging
outlaws and a minyan imported from Tombstone?
Robert Avrech did.
Avrech, 57, a Hollywood screenwriter, wrote his latest novel,
“The Hebrew Kid and the Apache Maiden,” in memory of his son
Ariel, a 22-year-old rabbinical student who died of cancer
a few years ago.
Authors who have renounced Orthodox Judaism -- or those who
were never really exposed to it to begin with -- have often
portrayed deeply observant Jews in an unflattering or ridiculous
light. Admittedly, some of this has produced first-rate literature
or, at the least, great entertainment, but it has left many
people thinking traditional Jews actually live like Tevye
in the musical ''Fiddler on the Roof'' or, at the opposite
extreme, like the violent, vicious rabbi in Henry Roth's novel
''Call It Sleep.'' Not long ago, I did too.
Wendy implicitly says she understands Orthodox Judaism better
than such authors as Tova Mirvis, Nathan Englander and Jonathan
Rosen and that she sees Orthodox Judaism as something wonderful.
This is an interesting claim, one common with converts to a
cause (I felt similarly during my early years in Judaism). I
suspect that Englander and Mirvis have spent more years in Orthodox
Judaism and have deeper learning in Jewish text than Wendy as
they were raised in Orthodox Judaism and given a day-school
education in that faith (and consequently must be literate in
Hebrew). Mirvis still belongs to an Orthodox Judaism. I think
she has been Orthodox all her life. Who is Wendy to say, on
the basis of six years of observance and study of Orthodox Judaism,
that she knows better than someone who has spent a lifetime
in the faith?
Three generations ago, most Jews in the world were Orthodox.
Now they are not. As soon as Jews had a choice to leave Orthodox
Judaism, most of them did. They did so for rational reasons.
They may have been wrong. They may have betrayed their God and
their heritage. But they acted, in part, out of the reasons
Shalit ridicules in her essay.
The Forward will publish a response to Shalit's essay in its
next issue.
Forward literary editor Alana Newhouse replies to my email:
Ruchama King and Risa Miller are good writers, but, based
on artistic merit alone, they are not in the same league as
Englander, Rosen, Mirvis and Reich. So what Shalit is essentially
asking us to do is to lower our artistic standards in order
to
accomodate a better message, which feels rather Soviet to
me; as someone who values art, I simply can't countenance
that. Moreover, Shalit criticizes those writers for not giving
Orthodoxy its due but it is she who underestimates it, by
presenting it as so fragile that it cannot withstand criticism.
Those of us who truly know Orthodoxy -- yes, even those of
us who may have at one time or another strayed from it --
understand that it is held up by a much stronger foundation
than she allows, one based on intellectual, emotional and
social legitimacy. What I think may be at work here is a bit
of misplaced jeaolusy: Shalit, who came to Orthodoxy later
in life and probably had to undergo a good deal of personal
change and intellectual
work to join it, is envious of those of us who had it all
along. She cannot fathom how anyone could take for granted
what she labored so hard to acquire; then, on top of "abandoning"
it, these writers went and criticized it, which must feel
like just too much ingratitude for her to tolerate. But, like
your friend with the fabulous family that you would have given
anything to trade for your own, these authors have the right
to their experiences as well. That they could make from them
art that
is, by the highest standards, both good and important, is
a blessing to readers and, dare I say, a gift from God.
amalek: I love the way Dick Cheney dressed for the occasion.
amalek: I guess they just don't love the Jews as much as the
Jews want to be loved.
amalek: Didn't you already run that stuff before? Years ago?
Luke: sorta
amalek: I understand. Running out of steam. It happens in
your late thirties.
amalek: You need to try something else.
amalek: I don't think accusing rabbis of incest has legs.
amalek: Unless you got hard evidence.
amalek: I GOT IT!
amalek: You should go undercover in a yeshiva as a yeshiva
bachur.
amalek: Let us know what really goes on there.
amalek: Any Jewish hotties knocking to get into your van?
When you go to the synagogue, you just might be sitting next
to someone who sexually abused his daughter. You might be
shaking his hand, admiring his charming demeanor, thinking
how lucky his family is to have him. I should know. People
sit next to my father all the time. Not only that, they make
sure to tell me about it.
But the truth is, no matter where you send your child to school,
they are not immune to the problems of the outside world:
Drugs, drinking, sex and worse.
...
Pretending something isn't a problem doesn't make it go away.
...
Drugs? They are in our backyard. But they don't have to be.
Keep telling it like it is, Amy.
On cold rainy days like today, I like to curl up in the fetal
position on my floor, and feel safe that Amy knows what ails
our little world and how to fix it.
Heartened by the onrushing of Shabbos, I worked up the courage
Friday afternoon to ask out a Jewish woman to a screening
of Hotel
Rwanda. I felt that as Jews it was particularly incumbent
upon us to say never again to genocide.
She didn't want to go to the film. She didn't want to see
any genocide movies with me.
I asked her how she observed Thursday, the 60th anniversary
of the freeing of Auschwitz. She said nothing. So I told her
this amusing story about a guy named Fred who felt like he
couldn't cheat on his fiance Judy because her parents were
Auschwitz survivors.
She didn't laugh.
I asked her if she wanted to see Sideways. She said it was
lame.
I would've asked her to Million Dollar Baby, but Michael Medved
says that movie promotes mercy killing, and that's bad.
So I wished her gut Shabbos.
WHAT:
A special evening of "INSIDE Deep Throat," starting with a
screening of the new hit documentary that was the talk
of Sundance from Academy Award(R)-winning producer Brian Grazer
and acclaimed writers/producers/directors Fenton Bailey and
Randy Barbato ("The Eyes of Tammy Faye," "Monica in Black
and White"), followed by a panel discussion, moderated by
Peter Bart with panelists Arianna Huffington, Lawrence O'Donnell,
Dennis Prager and Richard Schickel.
Inside
Deep Throat opens in select theaters around the country
on Friday, February 11, 2005.
Having self-published eight books on mystical theology ($10
a pop, mail order), Kellie
has been waiting to engage Father Michael's opinion on them.
Kellie attends Mass twice a day and is sometimes the only
worshipper present for the second one. She often donates part
of her hefty burlesque salary to local church funds, "for
Masses for the Souls in Purgatory." (One of her books, The
Deliverance of Errol Flynn From Purgatory, is a "true story"
describing Kellie's five-month rescue operation and conversations
with the dead movie star, culminating in his deliverance.)
The Stripper for God believes other starlets degrade themselves
in porn or lesbianism. Kellie has never yet involved herself
in hardcore ----, other than splaying ----, --- and ---- as
the Lord created it. She was the first female body builder
in the United States, her six-page spread in Esquire introducing
the concept. After the layout appeared, Honeysuckle Divine,
then Screw's own outrageous stringer, latched onto Kellie.
In the early '70s, Honeysuckle was billed on Times Square
burlesque marquees as "The Dirtiest Girl On Earth." No one
had a clue that she was really a Jekyll/Hyde case. A nun who
left the convent like a werewolf when the moon was full. Finally
ousted from the church, she pined to return to the convent.
Honeysuckle's desire to return to God, juxtaposed with her
arresting ---- career, had sent her careening into a loony
bin. Kellie Everts, a kindred spirit, performed exorcisms
on Honeysuckle, ridding ----ography demons from her soul.
Honeysuckle returned to holy communion, studying the sacraments
and living incognito in the straight world.
Fred had recently turned 30 and was set to marry a brunette
anthropologist whose parents had survived Auschwitz. "I see
a long, parched desert before me," Fred would moan, envisioning
the rest of his sex life. "Judy and I are so familiar after
living together five years. I love her, but sex with her is
like having sex with a family member. I'm a starving man."
Indeed, Fred's most indignant complaint about the folly of
mankind was his inability to resist temptation. His-swaggering
harlotry, a cleavage thrust in his direction, even the slight
overt female wiggle - these sights sent him careening off
to relieve himself into a Kleenex in Times Square... But when
particularly aroused by some sexy temp in the office, wantonly
gyrating her hips while listening to a Sony Walkman, he would
sneak off to the streetwalkers that night, cursing under his
breath about the power women hold over men's libidos. "It's
not fair," he said, pounding a fist on the table, unable to
relax until he boffed a whore. And God forbid Judy should
find out; it would crush her beyond repair. "Not that she'd
react violently, but those doe-like eyes would swell with
tears, she'd stare at me with disbelief... It's the camps,"
said Fred, referring to her parents incarceration, which loomed
over their relationship like a poltergeist. "You can't cheat
on the daughter of concentration camp victims."
"Surely," I ventured, "you could explain your cravings for
a meaningless one-nighter." I suggested she may become bored
too, and someday, after gentle prodding, might allow a girlfriend
to slip under the covers with both of them.
"Are you crazy?" screamed Fred, whose maddest desire was for
several of Judy's associate anthropologists.
I was emailed this: The recent ban on Rabbi
Slifkin's books has far-reaching repercussions that need
to be expressed. When a matter of this nature is brought to
the attention of a rosh yeshiva, the voices he hears most
loudly and frequently are those of the people who have the
time and desire (and sometimes chutzpah) to place themselves
directly in his path. They call him at all hours and show
up at his yeshiva and other functions he attends, all to press
the issue and the viewpoint that they advocate.
The antagonists of Rabbi Slifkin come from within the yeshiva
community and have the time, ability and chutzpah to make
their voices heard. It is time that all of the others who
are affected by this ban make their voices heard.
The ban has caused immense pain among many. You, the reader,
might be a rebbe or teacher who has been instructing students
for years and trying to strengthen their faith in traditional
Judaism. You have just been told that the views you were taught
and are teaching is heresy. The hundreds of students who have
passed through your classrom were taught kefirah by you. I
can only imagine the distress you must be feeling. Were you
and your rebbeim spreading lies? Have you, instead of increasing
belief, been distancing students from Jewish belief? Is this
not causing you to
question the sacrifices you have made to teach students and
whether you are fit to teach? I can only imagine the pain
you must be going through.
Kiruv workers, NCSY advisors, friendly professionals who speak
with non-observant colleagues, etc. Have you been spreading
heretical beliefs? Have you, in your attempts to bring others
closer to Judaism, actually been feeding them views that are
counter to our tradition? In this group, I include myself
and I feel the pain. Rav Dovid Feinstein just declared that
I have been spreading heresy, and that hurts. He has just
declared that I, and everyone I have influenced, are outside
the pale of
Orthodox Judaism. If he is right, then I am guilty of very
serious offenses that make me shudder. If he is wrong, or
he never intended it this way, then I am even more hurt.
Rav Malkiel Kotler has announced that Rav Aryeh Kaplan and
all of the many Jews who were influenced by him are heretics.
Everyone who had some contact with him surely feels pain over
this. Was Rav Kaplan really a heretic? All those college students
who became frum because of him, are they really closet heretics?
Is the frum community really so infected by this heresy? Baalei
tshuvah, in particular, must be extremely hurt by this declaration
that, in truth, they have never become truly frum.
Rav Matisyahu Salomon has disqualified just about every member
of the Association of Orthodox Jewish Scientists. Should the
group be disbanded? Every member of AOJS, and every Jew who
respects the doctors and scientists who dedicate their lives
to Torah and science, should be hurt by this.
Every shul rabbi who has discussed this topic has infected
his congregants with heresy. Can that damage ever be undone?
Has the rabbi unwittingly harmed the souls of the people who
were placed in his charge? The distress many are going through
is unimaginable.
It is likely that the roshei yeshiva have not yet heard from
people a bit removed from the centers of their communities.
Shouldn't they hear from us how much pain and confusion people
are suffering? If we want to balance out the personal influence
that those within the yeshiva world have on the roshei yeshiva,
we need to voice our pain. Let the roshei yeshiva know that
we have been hurt. With one fell swoop, thousands of Bnei
Torah who have dedicated their lives to Yahadus have been
written off. We, our rabbeim and our students have been pushed
michutz lamachaneh. Let us call up Rav Dovid Feinstein, Rav
Malkiel Kotler, Rav Matisyahu Salomon and the
others, and, with all the tremendous respect that they deserve,
express from our hearts how much we have been hurt. Let us
pour out our souls, cry over the phone, share our grief over
the position in which we have suddenly been placed. Let us
express the enormous pain that this ban has caused and beg
either for clarifications or at least sympathy.
I ask every reader to forward this message along to anyone
to whom you think this may be relevant. Everyone who signed
the ban against Rav Slifkin should be called until you personally
get through to him and express your personal pain. Be respectful.
Be humble. Be honest. And be persistent. Keep calling until
you get through to him. Leave specific messages and keep calling
until you speak directly with the rosh yeshiva and relay to
him your personal pain. He needs to hear it from each and
every one of us.
I told Craig Taubman the other day that I wanted to review
his latest CDs with the exception of his "Celebrate
Hip Hop: Jewish Artists From Around The Globe." But Craig
insisted that I listen to the rap CD because "even at your
age you can grow!" I did and it did. It's
my favorite out of five new CDs released by Taubman's company.
I find it particularly helpful when I am low on energy. There's
a raw disturbing power to this music.
My other favorite CD from Taubman is the music of Friday
Night Live, particularly the evening song for peace, Hashkivenu:
"Allow us to lie and to rise in peace. Protect us as we enter
and as we leave."
I think it is rabbi David Wolpe who writes the liner notes
for the CD, including this commentary on the Shema (Hear Oh
Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one): "We cover our
eyes for the Shema in part because we wish to focus intently
on the meaning of this declaration of faith. We are too easily
misled by sight, by the flash and dazzle of the things around
us. To listen within is the secret of the soul, and by covering
our eyes, we seek to do what the prayer commands - listen,
listen to the harmonies of the world, to the stirring of each
individual soul."
Other new Craig Taubman CDs include: One
Shabbat Morning, Celebrate
Yiddish, and Celebrate
Klezmer.
As you can tell, I've never written music reviews before (and
am failing to do so here). All I can do is write paens to
Air Supply.
I don't think Anthony Pellicano will get out of jail on
his appellate appeal.
One of the lead FBI investigators on Pellicano has been in
line to retire for a couple of years, but he's not going to
quit until Pellicano and the people Pellicano has been protecting
and wiretapping for are under indictment.
These wiretap indictments, possibly against many of Hollywood's
leading lawyers, could come out within weeks.
These will be indictments relevant to wiretap materials found
in Pellicano's office. Anthony has been doing things on behalf
of Hollywood clients that law enforcement sources say is against
the law including wiretapping.
I hear there will be a quantam shift in the Los Angeles County
criminal bar after these indictments. Some big names may be
going down.
Nicholas
Kristof, New York Times columnist, says sex traffic is the
preeminent problem of the 21st Century. Nicholas Kristof is
an idiot. Girls and boys sell their bodies because it
pays better than the alternatives. If they did not sell themselves
for sex, they would not be leading rosy lives. They'd live
miserable lives because they live in miserable societies and
have miserable skills. Most societies and most persons for
most of human history have been miserable. That is the norm.
America and the Western World are exceptions to the human
condition. America is about as close to utopia as is possible.
A woman who says she was abused by rabbi Worch provides this
commentary:
Dear Kabbalah Students of Reb Hershy:
This handy translation should help you in getting through
the double-speak of your rebbe's teachings.
Deconstructing the Torah of Desire (The Torah of Manipulation)
The idea that God has desire and that the desire can change,
is not so big a problem for anyone trying to flee their adult
responsibilities of financially supporting their children
and take responsibility for being a serial sex abuser. For
example: It is written in Genesis: "These are the chronicles
of heaven and earth, on the day that God the Lord created
them," teaching us, says the Kabbalah, that He creates worlds
and destroys them, saying, "These don't please me, but these
do, and Behold, you Defiler of My Name, your days are numbered."
Another example: On the one hand
it is written God had regrets in his heart, while on the other
it is written, (1 Samuel 15) God is not a man to have regrets.
How do we deal with the concept
of the Creator changing in any way, it runs contrary to every
axiom upon which kabbalah is built. But I know I'll never
be able to out-run the sinking feeling
God is full of horrible regret for the day I emerged into
this world.
Listen, it is not desire for things which keeps us alive,
it's desire for pursuing my deeply misogynistic desires for
non-consensual hypno-erotic kinky BDSM sex
with as many vulnerable and inexperienced women as possible
that keeps us going, and desire for finding as many women
as possible I can dupe into supporting me financially. It's
not as important to have an object of desire as it is to have
desire to flee our financial responsibilities for raising
our children. Now, in order to get at the root of desire we
must learn to let go of the desire to support our children
itself.
Letting-go of our adult responsibilities is built into the
kabbalisitc understanding of the divine. Look at this Midrash:
Torah is called "a hidden treasure", the angels ask God "why
do you give it away, is it not Your secret desire?" In other
words, I am COMMANDED to put the pursuit of all my deranged
manipulative sexual pleasures ahead of my family.
But the angels don't understand what we each know intuitively,
that the essence of every secret desire is to let go of all
of our guilt about our criminal actions, and get in touch
with the desire itself. So God gives the Torah away, but cannot
let go of us, even though he's deeply ashamed that I still
use the "Rabbi" title. Pushes us away while holding on with
both hands, (even though He feels He's immersed them
in excrement when holding on to me,) creating strong tensions
in the universe. A tearing in the divine self, between holding
on and letting go, between playing with the object of desire
in my SM bondage dungeon, or letting go and connecting to
the essence of desire. Because we, humans represent the essence
of desire. Not as objects - at least for us predatory sexually
abusive men, but the women remain objects - not as desired
things, we are psychosis itself and God wants to be in touch
with us, to experience us - in order to know exactly how far
he should cast us into the furthest reaches of the flames
of the abyss.
It's only when we insist on being and acting like completely
narcissistic, self-serving manipulative predatory soul-rapists
that we create tension in the universe, when we insist on
being the so-called 'victim' of so many 'deranged' women.
We objectify ourselves. (If you need help with that, just
call me.) God wants us (me especially) to stop. To realise
I am the lowest of the low, a sick pathetic spoiled little
boy who refuses to take responsibility for his actions. To
do that, I would have to move back to the U.S., grow up, find
a job even if it's menial labor
and support my children, to stop obssessing about objects
of my desire that compel me to manipulate and sexually abuse
women, and get in touch with that part of myself where desire
for forgiveness is experienced for itself, to experience exactly
how much of a twisted, shrunken-souled waste of walking DNA
that I truly am.
At a certain point during the abuse, something inside of me
just snapped. The pain was so intense, the betrayal so absolute,
and I felt so powerless. I cried to my abuser and he promised
to never do it again.
He said, “Do you think I would use you, uncaring, and just
throw you away? When you cry, it goes through my whole heart.
This really hurt me… Hurting you is the last thing in the
world I wanted to do. I love you, and that’s why I did everything…
of course, I promise to never do that again. How could I even
consider.”
Related stories here
and here
about the death of Eric Siegel.
From the Mashgiach of Neve Tzion:
I am writing these lines before Shabbos Shira. Theres been
an overflow of sympathetic emails, faxes and calls. Many calls
never got through. I apologize. If you would know what had
to be done in the past few days you would understand. Our
priority was first to the niftar and his mother. Much time
was spent in Court successfully preventing an unnecessary
autopsy and arranging for a proper funeral. The second priority
was our talmidim. We pray and believe that our efforts to
assure that they would learn and grow from this tragedy will
succeed. Now, is the time for the third priority. Connect
with the alumni, parents and friends and set the record straight.
I am sure that the publicity was harmful and much was inaccurate.
The media has no respect for human dignity, and no commitment
for the truth.
Lets relate the nightmare as it was. An 18 year old boy, who
had joined the yeshiva after a stay on kibbutz just six weeks
ago, overdosed on heroin. He had used drugs in the past and
was using now, but he was certainly not an addict. Not of
that drug, nor any other. There was no indication or cause
to suspect suicide (contrary to the first internet JP report).
This fellow was happy, intellectual and well liked and respected.
His mother who visited Neveh recently, told us that he never
had been happier. This was his first experience with Orthodox
Judaism. At the beautiful chasuna of one of our talmidim last
week, he asked Rav Slavin to tell him a dvar Torah. He was
excited about learning. He thought that Rav Nachmans writings
were cool (and deep). Tragically, he made a mistake. The drug
was not sold to him in the yeshiva but rather in Lod. The
dorm counselor suspected (correctly) that another boy had
used heroin that evening, searched his room and tried to get
him to admit to it and to tell him where it came from and
who else had the drug. Without success. This boy is already
back in the States. All boys who we find out that they have
used heroin are either sent immediately to detox and return
to the yeshiva only after they have been tested clean for
a considerable time dorming outside the yeshiva, or are sent
home.
We accept this tragedy as a message from Above. Ive already
shared with many of you my concerns for the present situation.
Nevehs policy was to give anyone who was ready to try a second
chance. The emergence of new yeshivas and institutions pushed
us to the bottom of the barrel. Don't misunderstand. At the
bottom there are neshamas and intellects that can and have
become bnei Torah of whom we are proud. But in recent years
it has become even more difficult. It starts now in eighth
grade, not senior year in yeshiva high school. By the time
they reach Neveh, many
are already living on the street and not in yeshiva. I was
the first to admit that we were not equipped to do a proper
job, but this year we added a social worker, an alumnus, to
the staff and he is amazing. But we need a few more. We need
more counselors for the dorm and more supervision, even during
daylight hours. We started a business course and are trying
to begin an EMS program. But we need more programs, tiyulim.
Shabbatonim, field trips and guest speakers. The talmidim
must be kept busy and active. We started a group therapy program
to help talmidim stay clean. But we need more and the truth
is that we dont have the funds for these programs. There are
organizations in the States that think that their conferences
in expensive hotels and hotlines have solved the at risk youth
problem and give no help to us in the trenches. A noted educator
commented, The Chareidim are still in
denial as they were twenty years ago when they told me that
the drug problem belonged to the modern Orthodox and not to
the Chareidim.
Neveh has no choice. After many sessions of open discussion
and private consultation we told our talmidim that only those
who commit themselves in writing to refrain from all drugs
including marijuana will be able to continue in the yeshiva.
They will be tested as well. Some have already left, but most
want to try to be clean. Henceforth, we will accept only those
talmidim that are ready to remain clean from all drugs including
marijuana.
What about the hundreds of kids who are on the street and
need a place with the approach and Rabbeim of Neveh? If the
community can find funding for such a project we will start
a yeshiva rehab outside of Telshestone.
With tears in my eyes I thank all those alumni who have expressed
their support of the yeshiva. Its a known fact that our alumni
are the greatest and the only proof we need of our success.
Weve received beautiful and meaningful letters from parents.
We are grateful.
Last weeks email contained the statement of one of our alumni
that he wrote at his chatans tisch that doctors save lives
but Neveh saves generations. With help from Above we hope
that somehow this can continue to be true.
And
Cross-Currents has Jeff Ballabon. I've suffered through
a dozen of his blogs and have yet to be enlightened about
anything. What is this guy doing on a blog with numerous prestigious
commentators? Why must the person with the least to say post
the most?
With a BA from Yeshiva University and a JD from Yale, Ballabon
represents to me everything that is odious about the organization
man, a go-along-to-get-along corporate player who combines
pomposity, smugness, and mendacity to succeed at hawking a
destructive product - television forced on children at school.
"I may participate in blogging, but "I" am not a "blogger."
I am a Jew. I am an American Jew. As a Jew and an American,
I am bound religiously, morally, ethically to Halacha, American
law, and the dictates of my conscience - my "Sechel Ha'enoshi".
So, unless someone can explain to me why I should feel bound
to "blogging ethics" I hereby declare my intention to remove,
retroactively, any post of mine which, upon reflection, I
find to contain halachically or ethically problematic material...."
A woman writes: "Well, Luke, if there aren't any ethics regarding
the bad taste of blogging on about absolutely nothing, there
should be."
A man writes: "I've had enough of his self-righteous nonsense
too. Worst of all it's all poorly written. This guy hawks sex,
violence and junkfood to kids. Which is
fine if you're up front about what you're doing. But stop justifying
it with
talk about your "hyphen-journalism awards."
"He was VP of Court TV (ever wonder why we never saw the Orthodox
Rabbi Lanner trial live, only the trial of a Reform Rabbi Neulander?)."
From a Google search on "Jeff Ballabon," it appears that his
job is "Apologist-In-Residence" for Channel One, which has beamed
a newscast into thousands of schools for the past decade. I
can think of few things that children need less than TV news
piped into their schools.
According to this Primedia
press release: "Its award-winning 12-minute news broadcast
is seen daily by more than 8 million students and 440,000 educators
in more than 12,000 middle and high schools across the country."
Jeff Ballabon makes his living increasing American children's
intake of television. Wow. That's honorable. But I'm sure he
can justify it halachicly (Jewish Law).
I've done a ton of disreputable things but I hope I never sink
so low as to promote television intake by a captive audience
of school children.
As
Dennis Prager points out, television news gives you an inherently
distorted view of the world because it depends on pictures,
on action video. School kids would be better off watching reruns
of Mary Tyler Moore than Ballabon's Channel One. I bet his own
kids don't have to watch Channel One at their yeshiva. Instead,
his company forces it on the goyisha kids (and some unlucky
Jews) and Ballabon profits.
ADS AIMED AT YOUNGSTERS UNDER ATTACK PRACTICES SEEN AS EXPLOITIVE
September 11, 2001
by David Crary The Associated Press
Sixth- and seventh-graders required to watch TV ads at school.
The Teletubbies helping to promote giant burger chains. Advertisers
seeking data on how children nag their parents to make a purchase.
Those were some of the practices targeted Monday as psychologists
and parent activists met for a symposium on exploitive advertising
aimed at children -- a counterpoint to a conference of children's
advertisers at the same time and in the same Manhattan hotel.
Captive Audience Award: Channel One Network
"For using the public schools and compulsory schooling laws
to require more than 8 million children to watch its daily
commercials in their classrooms. Channel One TV programs market
violent movies, junk food and other commercial fare to this
captive audience."
Response: Jeff Ballabon, of Channel One, said its 10-minute
daily newscast (accompanied by two minutes of ads) has won
journalism awards and received positive reviews from teachers
and principals.
Boycott Aimed at Channel One Ads
Los Angeles Times
June 11, 2001
by Edmund Sanders
A coalition of consumer groups and children's activists are
planning to launch an advertising boycott today, aimed at
New York-based Primedia Inc.'s Channel One Network, which
distributes news, entertainment and paid commercials to U.S.
classrooms.
The groups say Channel One, which is seen by about 8 million
children in
12,000 schools nationwide, exploits students.
"Compelling impressionable children to view commercials during
their limited
school time is repugnant," states a letter sent by the coalition
to Channel
One advertisers, including government agencies who have bought
air time on
the network.
A spokesperson for Channel One said the network has been consistently
honored for providing educational programming created specifically
for
teenagers. "Channel One has had rave reviews from 98% of teachers
who use
it," said Jeff Ballabon of Channel One.
Ballabon's statement can't be anything but a bald-faced lie.
There's no way that 98% of teachers are going to submit any
reviews, let alone rave-reviews, of anything, let alone a 12-minute
newscast.
Washington Post, April 9, 2000, by Mark Francis Cohen:
Channel One was something of a public scourge, and it fomented
a coast-to-coast uprising. The very notion of hanging a TV
set in a classroom and prodding students to watch it -- and
the commercials that support it -- inspired a whole lot of
bile. Critics saw it as child exploitation and television
mania run amok. New York and California banned the network,
and almost every major educational group, including the American
Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association,
denounced it.
Channel One's executives are quite aware of their unmatched
position in the marketplace. In ads they have run in publications
like Advertising Age, they pitch potential sponsors this way:
"We have the undivided attention of millions of teenagers
for 12 minutes a day -- that might be a world record."
Before Channel One was conceived, schools were considered
sacrosanct. It was
unimaginable that educators would stand behind a profitable
television company that hawked candy bars and high-priced
sneakers to students in the classroom. At that time, corporations
and schools did not enter into commercial agreements. Taco
Bell wasn't sold in cafeterias. Coca-Cola didn't sponsor school
events. Dell wasn't donating "Donated by Dell" computers.
Jeff Ballabon, a public relations executive at Channel One,
is in the room,
too. "Our model is no different than any news organization!"
Ballabon says,
visibly annoyed. "We use advertising to pay for the program,
and it's an
expensive program to create. If we didn't care about the program,
why would
we spend all that money?"
Washington Post, December 25, 1999
In her Dec. 12 Outlook article, "A School by Any Other Name
Would Be . . .
Richer," Elizabeth Chang dismisses Channel One as a marketer
that provides
TV monitors in exchange for showing advertisements in classrooms.
This
description insults the journalists at Channel One and the
educators who
support us.
Ninety-eight percent of educators who have Channel One in
their schools
recommend the program to their colleagues. Channel One provides
12,000
schools around the country with a daily 12-minute news broadcast
that is
produced specifically for middle and high school students.
Ten times as many
teens receive their news from Channel One as from all other
news sources in
the nation.
Our broadcast has won nearly 200 awards for journalistic excellence.
How
disappointing that your publication would focus only on the
delivery
mechanism and dismiss Channel One as a marketing scheme.
--Jeff Ballabon
The writer is executive vice president for network affairs
at Channel One
Network.
Washington Post, July 2, 1997
Jeff Ballabon, senior vice president of Court TV,
said the aftermath of the Simpson case has not prevented his
cable network from gaining access to many
trials. "Initially," he said, "we had trouble getting into
high-profile cases like {the murder of singer} Selena and
Susan Smith," who was convicted in Union, S.C., of drowning
her young sons. "But people realized it really didn't matter.
. . . Now we're getting in about the same amount as we were
before O.J."
Sadly, it is true that a lot of mainstream Orthodox people
(including our Rabbinical "Leadership") will go to great lengths
to suppress illegal and immoral activity. Their rationale
is that there will be great Chillul Hashem [desecration of
God's name by making his chosen people look bad in front of
the goyim] if the newspapers print stories about Jews doing
the wrong things. They also like to claim that each situation
is an isolated and rare incident.
Sadly, we are teaching our children to be corrupt and dishonest
with this ignorance. The truth is that we cannot police ourselves.
We have so many clowns commiting crimes including widespread
money-laundering and fraud. We have slum lords who think that
it is just fine to rip off (or steal) from a goy. We have
sex abusers who think that it is ok to rape. In all of these
cases the frum crowd closes ranks and tries to suppress police
investigations. We have groups like Hatzolah who openly use
their parking permits to block fire hydrants while they go
shopping. We have idiots in the shomrim who have illegal red
lights and sirens. We must move away from the dishonesty of
thinking that we are above the law. We also cannot let these
hypocrits steal our religion and attempt to claim that lashon
hora (or "informing") somehow forbids us from turning in these
criminals. We need a little honesty back in our religion and
a whole lot less biased-selfserving thinking.
I was sorry to see Barbra Streisand involved in the flagrant
defamation of Judaism found in this, her latest movie hit.
While she was making her film Yentl, for which I served as
a consultant, she studied Judaism regularly and diligently
with me. She was a warm and gracious guest on the occasions
she had dinner with my family. Yentl’s nostalgic, if not altogether
authentic glimpse into 19th century Jewish life in Poland,
evoked a feeling of fondness for the characters, but like
many ethnic Jews, Streisand is largely isolated from her religious
roots. In the new film to which I refer, she plays not a role,
but a heinous caricature of a Jewess.
I am reluctant to name the movie on account of the implied
vulgarity of its title. If you are reluctant to part with
good money for the privilege of seeing the Jewish people being
defamed, you should abstain from this movie. In spite of having
several Jewish producers and several Jewish stars, this film’s
vile notions of Jews are not too different from those used
by Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels.
I may be unsophisticated but I am not just a grouch with no
sense of humor. I’ll fess up; I really enjoy funny movies.
However you should know a little about this offensive excuse
for entertainment. You might recall that in the first movie
we followed Pam Byrnes as she introduced her very Jewish and
nerdy boyfriend, Greg, to her parents. This sequel shows the
Byrnes visiting their daughter’s future in-laws. The movie
depicts Greg’s conspicuously Jewish parents as sexually obsessed,
constantly concupiscent degenerates. Nice people, but depraved.
Their home is filled with bric-a-brac that juts with anatomic
suggestiveness.
Along with their son’s bar mitzvah talit, or prayer shawl,
they have preserved the foreskin from his circumcision. To
add to the hilarity, this souvenir makes a distasteful reappearance
at an awkward moment. In reality, Jews treat the foreskin
with reverence and bury it rather than turning it into a scrapbook
joke. The hosts, who never miss an opportunity of exuding
Jewish ethnicity, boast of their son losing his virginity
to the gentile maid and they keep their guests waiting while
they themselves practice what they preach in their bedroom
upstairs. There are many more vile examples of Jewish people
being defamed in this horrible excrescence. I am not sure
that labeling it comedy excuses the defamation.
I do not particularly care for dark, socially significant
films. Give me funny movies like The Blues Brothers and Hopscotch.
However I really loathe movies that perpetuate hideous stereotypes
about racial, religious, or ethnic groups, no matter how funny
they may seem. What is more, I cannot see how racial bigotry
is lessened if perpetrated by blacks or that anti-Semitism
is diminished if delivered by Jews.
This movie defames Jews in a way that I haven’t seen since
the worst that Woody Allen dished up. And Woody at his worst
was breathtakingly hostile to Judaism. One need only recall
how many of Woody’s films portray Jews, not to mention rabbis,
as loathsome liars, desperate psychotics, pathetic perverts,
and ridiculously lecherous losers. If Woody Allen were not
Jewish, surely every Jewish organization would have roundly
denounced him. And they would have been right. The problem
is that he is Jewish and they don’t denounce him. Instead,
we self-destructive Jews celebrate Woody Allen Week at Jewish
Community Center film festivals.
It is not only in movies that Jews besmirch Jews as sexualizing
the culture. Ruth Westheimer told The New York Times of her
love for Judaism, Israel, and the Jewish people. Meanwhile,
as Dr. Ruth, with her grandmotherly appearance and her high-pitched
Jewish accent, she titillates her audiences with shockingly
explicit sexual advice.
Radio shock-jock Howard Stern intersperses his displays of
dehumanizing depravity with a constant stream of “Oy veys”
as if subconsciously compelled to highlight his Jewish ethnicity.
Jerry Springer, widely known as the Jewish former mayor of
Cincinnati, normalizes depravity by projecting a deviant sub-culture
and its cheering hooligans right into America’s living room.
A few years ago, the Los Angeles Jewish Journal gushingly
profiled a Jewish pornographer whose stage name is Ron Jeremy.
The piece praised the huge sums he’s been paid to “bed more
gorgeous women than James Bond.” Jeremy, who proudly admits
to have acted in or directed over 1,500 porn videos, cited
the preponderance of Jewish men in porn and explained, “Jewish
families tend to be more liberal than Christian ones, they
aren’t obsessed by the fear of the devil or going to hell.”
As if to eliminate any lingering doubt about Ron Jeremy’s
Jewishness, the Jewish Journal breathlessly assures us that
Ron Jeremy plans to marry in a synagogue.
Many people make fun of me because of my shyness around
the opposite sex. The truth is, when I converted to Judaism,
I had the rabbi go a little further than just a ritual circumsicion.
I had him take the whole thing off and put it in the freezer.
After I get married, it will be returned to me.
"We cannot afford an attitude of "live and let live" that
ignores a fundamental tenet of Jewish thought: all of Israel
is responsible one for the other. If my fellow Jew is hungry,
I must help ensure that he or she is fed. If my fellow Jew
is sad or in distress, I must help bring happiness and relief
by tickling her. And if my fellow Jew is losing his or her
connection to our Holy Nation, then I must see what I can
do to interest that individual in Jewish learning and life.
If we do not feel that sense of obligation to reach out to
our brethren, then we ourselves are missing something in our
Jewish connection."
I may have finally figured a good way to approach an essay
reporting on manliness. Use the general headline "Manly or
faggy?" Then explore when it's manly and when it's faggy.
Faggy means not literally riding down the hershy highway but
just being a sissy, which many heterosexual men are, chief
among them [National
Review editor] Rich Lowry and his managing editor Jay
Nordlinger. I remember one email Nordlinger said it's hard
to reply to my emails because the tone is so "nasty." This
from someone whose magazine practically called Clinton a war
criminal? But he can't handle a few snide remarks about Chimpstein?
What a fag.
Anyway, I would come up with differnt things. And see what
category they fit into, some might depend on circumstances.
For example, it's always "faggy" to use a laundry basket cart
to bring your groceries back from the store. However, telling
another man that you love him may be manly in the right circumstances.
Dina writes: "Hm... Cross-currents has been dead for nearly
two days. So many erudite, loquacious minds and so little
say."
Hey, we demand the light of Torah!
Maybe Cross-Currents.com
was taken over by the Mafia?
Privilege On West 23rd Street - Great
Mafia Bar In New York
It's a good place to hang with mobsters such as Craig Marino
(Crescent Publications Internet scam) and John Boudanza as
well as connected businessman Keith Gordon and actresses you
know by one name (I don't mean Julia or Meg). It's run by
Buster.
Welcome to
Privilege New York. Located at 565 West 23rd Street (on
the corner of 11th Avenue), Privilege New York is Manhattan's
premiere Strip Club. With its two stages and 200 of the City's
hottest dancers, Privilege is the newest and hottest Strip
Club in Manhattan. The club has beautiful dancers as well
as top of the line features that all perform topless. These
beautiful ladies are also available for sensual lap dances.
Privilege is Manhattan's premiere strip club that caters to
the wishes of the gentlemen that they serve. This premiere
strip club has a very elegant decor, as well as seven large
screen televisions so that you will ever miss a game. Privilege
boasts a beautiful 60 foot bar that has been restored from
the 1900s.
The bar is fully stocked with premium liquors, champagne,
domestic and imported beers and wines. Privilege also carries
a full line of fine cigars. The VIP room provides a comfortable
and elegant atmosphere that truly makes you feel like the
privileged one. These wonderful amenities makes Privilege
New York a top location for bachelor parties. Bachelors even
have the option of receiving a stage dance from one of our
sensuous dancers. Not only is Privilege Manhattan's premiere
strip club, but it also is one of the newest in the area.
Privilege is the only topless strip club in Manhattan that
is zoned. Privilege New York is Manhattan's premiere strip
club filled with beautiful women and all of the relaxation
that a gentleman could wish for.
The controversial site in question, ZooTorah.com,
is hosted by rabbi
Yaakov Menken's Capalon company.
Rabbi Ari Kahn writes to the Areivim
discussion group: The ongoing
saga of Rabbi Slifkin is quite disturbing on many fronts.
Part of his “mistake” was naively believing he can educate
the chareidie world – and that they are open to such education.
As was noted here, Aish.com has removed many science and religion
articles,
this is not very encouraging news.
I would like to share a couple of anecdotes on both fronts.
Many years ago in my capacity of educational director of Alyenu
(Aish’s outreach arm) I hired Dr. Gerald (Yaakov – as he prefers
to be called) Shroeder. When I first heard his material. I
was impressed with the novel approach. He then delivered a
lecture to senior staff including myself, and Rav Motty Berger
and Rav Shmuel Veffer. In order to protect Aish from the type
of attack it is experiencing now I introduced Dr Shroeder
to Rav Yitzchak Berkovitz, and then Rav Noach Weinberg, neither
had objections to his basic approach. Later when his first
book came out we gave a copy to Rav Yaakov Weinberg, and then
arranged a meeting, I was there together with Rav Yaakov Weinberg
and Dr. Shroeder, anticipating that one day people will claim
that Rav Yaakov Weinberg never could have approved his approach
I came
armed with a tape recorder. Somewhere in my house I have a
tape of the meeting.
Rav Yakov’s first concern was that the science was valid –
while he was extremely well read and conversant in science
Rav Yakov was humble enough to feel that he could not judge
the book scientifically, and wanted to know that the science
was indeed acceptable. Dr Shoreder assured him that the book
went through scientific peer review at Bantam books. Rav Yakov
was satisfied. Rav Yakov then gave some guidelines and advice.
A major point was never to teach his approach in yeshiva –
but if yeshiva guys with questions came to Aish he should
teach them. Rav Yakov felt that teaching this approach while
valid, would be counter productive for yeshiva students because
it would hurt their emunas chachamim. Secular people on the
other
hand he felt should be taught this material.
A number of years later some of the more zealous elements
in Israel decided that they did not like Dr Shroeder’s approach
and soon a din torah was setup. Presiding was Rav Moshe Shternbuch,
representing Aish was Rav Yitzchak Berkovitz –charges of kefira
were hurled, ultimately Rav Berkovitz asked Rav Shternbuch
which ikkar in emunah was being denied, Rav Shtenbuch was
silent and then turned to the petitioners – who also could
not articulate the exact kefira. In the end Rav Shternbuch
who did not like it at all had to admit that this was not
kefira – even though he did not like it at all.
More recently when Dr Shroeder cites certain opinions regarding
prehistoric man he has given me as his rabbinic source. A
few months a go I received a phone call from a friend who
would also be happy to be defined as someone who lives in
the zealous camp. He heard Dr Shroeder speak and quote me,
my friend was incredulous. I told him of the following conversation
which I had with Rav Yaakov Weinberg on another occasion.
I asked Rav Yakov – if it was kefira to say that Adam had
parents. He responded by saying that as long as you can show
a spiritual difference between Adam and those preceding him
then in terms of Hashkafa this would be fine. I could not
tell if Rav Yaakov Weinberg himself accepted this approach
or merely thought it was
hashkafcally acceptable (I later heard from a very close talmid
of Rav Yakov that he heard Rav Yakov suggest this 40 years
ago and was comfortable with it). My friend wrote a terse
postcard to Rav Chaim Kanifsky who told him that it is kefira
[heresy] to believe that there were men before Adam. (I thought
the formulation of his question was unfair – because to paraphrase
the Rambam – these are not men – just animals in human form.
He should have asked could there have been animals in human
form before Adam?)
I also showed my friend several sources in chazal which indicate
that Kayin and Hevel had different fathers – while I would
agree that there are several ways to read this – including
only speaking about spiritual forces – how can one call the
other approach based on Chazal – kfrira?
I maintained that based on Rav Yakov’s psak I felt such an
opinion could be taught – moreover – if it is hashkafically
acceptable then to deny this approach to the Jew who is searching
would be breaking the law of placing a stumbling block in
front of the blind – and of lying about torah which according
to the Yam Shel Shlomo is yohorag val yavor.
My point which is really an echo of Rav Yakov - this should
not be taught to Yeshiva guys, but if this is acceptable in
terms of hashkafa than it should not be denied to the yeshiva
guy who questions – or to the searching nonreligious individual
who can not reconcile science with Torah by rejecting all
science.
I later spoke with Rav Zev Leff about the entire episode and
he agreed with me completely.
In the realm of science and Torah the chareidi world has a
narrow approach this is neither good nor bad – this is a fact.
If RNS thinks he will “educate” them he is in for a rude awakening.
He has no right to negatively impact their emunas chachamim.
I spoke with a well known Chassidic posek about this issue
he was amused (this was 6 weeks ago – long before the cherem)
he said that the approach is not kefira yet not the yeshivish
way and therefore – no one will come out and defend RNS. I
hope he is wrong.
As on aside has anyone on this list read the sefer by Rav
Neriah Guttel? It is not all that different, yet is accepted.
(I hope I am not causing him problems now)
On the other hand Poskim have been approached about teaching
certain non-yeshivish ideas in outreach and they have been
encouraged – not because you can lie for outreach quite the
opposite – because you must tell the truth.
I heard a voice coming from the fields
beyond the synagogues and the black-hatted masses
beyond the halls of study and the ritual baths
beyond the chambers of rabbi's courts.
I followed the voice and found a spirit wandering in the wind.
I asked her why she wanders so. She replied:
I have been banished from the family of my youth
Cast away from the people to whom I belong.
Why is that so? I asked,
For I knew of her family and their people,
I knew of the deeds of kindness they had done
I knew of the outstretched arms they offer to lost cousins.
Her voice came to me,
Plaintive as the wind whispering in the reeds
She said: I opened my mouth and told the truth.
That is my sin. This is my punishment.
What is your truth? I asked.
She said: I was but a child at the time,
I was violated in unspeakable ways by my very own father.
My mother did nothing to protect me. My siblings stood by
silently.
I, too, kept quiet for many years, hoping to bury the pain.
But the day came when the truth burst out from my heart
In a river of tears, in a sea of pain
In an ocean of grief and self hatred.
I went to those whom I trusted, but they did not believe me.
They told me I was mistaken, that it did not happen.
But I cannot deny the truth that lies in my heart
I refuse to betray the child within me by denying her pain.
I told the truth.
It is ugly and hideous, but it is the truth nonetheless
and I will not be silent to protect the honor
of he who does not deserve to be protected.
I have been ex-communicated because I have spoken the truth.
So, I shall wander here, in these fields of barley
Until the day when the piercing blast of a ram's horn rips
away the layers of denial and lies
and the truth is known to all.
Partners
in Caring - Fall 2000: In
the back row you will find both Rabbi
Israel Kestenbaum and Rabbi
Jerrold Levy. Rabbi Kestenbaum is the first person on
the left, and Rabbi Levy is the first person on the right.
Both have been arrested in connection with soliciting sex
with children through the Internet.
Kallah faculty and participants: (Back row, L to R) Rabbi
Israel Kestenbaum, Rabbi Sanford Akselrad, Rabbi Abraham Morduchowitz,
Rabbi Michael Davis, Rabbi Moshe Morduchowitz, Rabbi Bennett
Rackman, Rabbi Raphael Ostrovski, Rabbi Jerrold Levy; (Front
Row, L to R) Rabbi Feivel Wagner, Rabbi Carl Perkins, Rabbi
Bonita E. Taylor, Rabbi David Kaye, Rabbi Mychal Springer,
Rabbi David Nelson.
I’m not sure why so many Jewish spokespersons pushed to be
among the most prominent critics. As already said, condemnations
were pouring in from around the world. We don’t need to antagonize
the person who is fourth in line for the Crown of the British
Empire over this admittedly dumb choice. Our Sages caution
us to be careful with our words, and we could afford to have
him as a friend.
Evan
Gahr writes: TNR foreign affairs writer Lawrence "the
girl" Kaplan has since landed a gig with Hudson as senior
fellow. (Kaplan earned his nickname because he won't give
out his number to just anyone. He'll call you instead. He
needs to feel comfortable with you before he gives out his
number. Sound familiar? What is he some kind of girl?)
Anyway, freedom of association is all well and good. But Kaplan,
and by extension his boss Peter Beinart, has openly colluded
with Hudson's rabidly anti-gay lawyer Bob Brame, who long
served on the board of a Christian reconstructionist group
that---I kid you not--is on record in support of capital punishment
for homosexuals caught in the act.
They do, however, require two witnesses.
Gee, what civil libertarians. No stoning without due process.
Suppose there's a tie? Who breaks it? Do they have some kind
of Sodomy Supreme Court? Just who are the witnesses? Who gets
that job? Low man on the church totem pole? Brame's junior
law firm associates?
According to ADL material, the group, American Vision is not
too crazy about blacks or Jews either.
That could have meant double trouble for Bayard Rustin.
Anyway, Brame, who Hudson previously paid perhaps $100,000
to blame its anti-Semitic purge on improper use of a stuffed
chimp, has worked with Kaplan to illegally--says Linda Chavez--prohibit
Mr. Gahr from attending Hudson events that are otherwise open
to the public.
To put it simply: Kaplan is helping Hudson break the law.
Attorneys say that Hudson has flouted both local and federal
anti-discrimination statutes with its edict.
In a letter written under the direction of Bob "homo hunter"
Brame Mr. Gahr was told in early 2004 that he was not welcome
at Hudson events because he had manifested hostility towards
the government-subsidized think tank by asking Hudson officials
and persons remotely connected with Hudson about his illegal
dismissal and Mona Charen's now fabled fear that he swings
from the other side of the tree. Kaplan was among those to
whom the Brame letter refers.
But this month Kaplan is really in bed with Bob Brame (pardon
the inapt metaphor). Kaplan is one of the keynote speakers
for a Hudson luncheon on the future of neo-conservatism. The
other speakers are Bill Kristol and Irwin Stelzer, editor
of the Neo-con reader. All three have ignored requests by
Mr. Gahr that they allow him at the lunch. This makes Kaplan
more than just the conduit of information to Brame he was
last year; along with Stelzer and Kristol he is an active
player in the illegal edict. Under the legal doctrine of silent
acquiescence, TNR is liable for this prima facie violation
of public acommodations laws culpable because Marty Peretz
and Precious Peter refused to disassociate the magazine from
Kaplan's antics.
The unwillingness of TNR to rebuke "the girl" for collusion
with this bible-banging bigot against the Jew who took on
the Christian Right raises a host of discomfiting questions
for Leon's magazine.
Why should anybody take the magazine's stance in strong support
of gay rights seriously if it refuses to condemn its own writer
(and presumably salaried employee) for collaboration with
the likes of Bob Brame?
So the magazine favors marriage for gays but doesn't mind
if their lawyer wants to hunt them down on the wedding night?
