Inferno: where Suharto should end up This week we salute a few particularly witty and wise comments. First up, Mateo’s response to Helen’s post on the death of former Indonesian dictator Suharto:

 

Suharto joins Pol Pot and others in the ranks of genocidal dictators never brought to justice in life. It eases the conscience, just a bit, to believe in a retributive afterlife where Suharto now serves penance in some painful, eternal Inferno.

So maybe we don’t have hell, but we sure hope Suharto is going to get bitch-slapped on the Other Side.

We also liked Ehud Ada’s response to my suggestion that everyone get a big Jewcy tattoo on their left butt cheek:

Er, ok. But if I get it on the right cheek, will folks assume I'm a gay Yeshiva U. alum?

Yes, but only if you moon us at shul.

Then we had two particularly awesome comments in response to the post on the policy of no gay partners at Yeshiva of Flatbush high school reunions. First, Baltimom gets a little snippy about frum people who want acceptance of their homosexuality:

 

Look, I'm totally for homosexual equality and gay marriage. I think my gay Rabbi is great. But I think it's kind of hypocritical for people who practice Judaism in a way which builds so many walls around the community to get pissed when they find themselves on the other side. These are the Orthodox community norms, and the Yeshiva alums are well aware of them. They chose to live a different life when they got out into the wider world. And in their adult lives, they either continued to attend Orthodox services and left their partners home, or they found people to worship with who accept them as G-d made them, i.e. Conservative or Reform Jews.

So they want to support the Yeshiva, who says that my house is unclean because I have only one dishwasher, but they want my sympathy because they were welcome at the reunion, but their partners weren't? Eat a bowl of matzah ball soup at my house, then we can talk, bubbelah.

 

 

I don’t think having one dishwasher is really grounds for not eating at someone’s house, even for those who keep kosher in a super-stringent manner, but the point still stands. And two points for rockin’ “bubbelah.”

David Draiman: would probably cause a ruckus should he decide to attend a high school reunion. Finally, Heather S brings the lead singer of Disturbed into the fray:

 

this article and the Noah Feldman piece should serve as a wake-up call to yeshivas everywhere who are still under the impression that all their students will remain the same once they exit the halls for good. one person who comes to mind in this instance is David Draiman, lead singer of the band Disturbed. he was born in Flatbush, but ended up relocating to Chicago and attending yeshiva there as well as in Jerusalem. look at him now. he's a bald angry Jew with a giant piece of metal protruding from his chin, yet he's raking in tons of cash and has a devoted legion of fans. he may be a pariah in the Orthodox community, but to the rest of the world he's a talented and highly respected individual. and even though it took a number of years for his parents to come to terms with his life choices, they're proud of his accomplishments. and whatever yeshiva he graduated from should also be proud. because how many Orthodox Jews go on to reach that kind of status? other than the aforementioned Matisyahu, not too many.

 

 

I’m not sure that outside the Orthodox community David Draiman is considered “a talented and highly respected individual” but he’s successful, and it does seem like it would be a mistake to alienate successful alumni, even if they don’t agree with the basic mission of the school.