Religion & Beliefs
How to Avert Future Jewish Catastrophes in One Easy Step!
By Joey Kurtzman / August 10, 2008
We Jews just love to beat ourselves up. We can't even get depressed without feeling guilty about it. This weekend is Tisha b'Av, the one time of year when Jews get to have a good old-fashioned bitching session. We weep and wail and curse at the miserable treatment of Jewish people throughout history: the destruction of both Temples, the expulsion from Spain, the Nazis.
Historians–at least, those historians who sport peyes and streimels and use the Chumash as a source text–say that all of these Jewish catastrophes happened on the ninth day of the Hebrew month of Av. That's today, for those keeping track. The rub, though, is that Judaism is pretty clear on why these things happened: because Jews screwed up. The first temple was destroyed because Jews worshipped idols, slept around, and killed people. The second temple was destroyed because Jews were feeling too much hate toward their neighbors. The Holocaust happened because…well, whatever we did wrong there, it must have been pretty bad. I guess it takes a Chief Rabbi of Israel to explain such a thing. Pretty rough, this idea of Jewish karma. "Shit happens. But when it happens to you, you must have sinned." So how might we avoid sin and the catastrophe it brings? Surely the wisdom of our "elders" can help us out here, right? Not necessarily. Jewish scripture is clear: God will punish us for repeating the sins of our elders. Which brings me to the Agriprocessers scandal, in which the Orthodox Union certified a splendidly profitable but ethically abominable slaughterhouse run by Orthodox Jews.
Anyone who opposes the pointless torture of animals will agree that Orthodox Jews ought not use meat hooks to rip out the throat of cattle before leaving the animals to slowly bleed to death. Anyone who cares about this country's problem with illegal immigration will agree that Orthodox Jews ought not forge immigration documents in order to ruthlessly exploit undocumented Mexican workers, including children (one federal official called the mistreatment of workers at this Orthodox-certified facility "medieval.")
You don't have to be a Jew to recognize that the whole affair is a hillul hashem–a pitiful public disgrace in which Judaism and Jewish values are humiliated before all Americans, Jews and non-Jews alike. Orthodox Union President Stephen Savitsky might as well have purchased a 30-second spot during the Super Bowl, and broadcast himself shitting atop a copy of Pirkei Avot, the Talmud's foremost work of Jewish ethics. For non-Orthodox Jews, the coincidence of this year's Tisha b'Av and the Agriprocessors scandal should serve as a wake-up call. Judaism tells us that a good, safe, and honorable future for the Jewish people is ours to make. To create that future, we must honor the principles of the Jewish tradition; in so doing, we must not defer to the false authority of those who claim to be our "elders," but whose behavior desecrates the same Jewish tradition they claim to uphold. Let's start with this: After this year's Tisha b'Av, boycott kosher meat certified by the Orthodox Union. Just stop buying it altogether. Instead, buy the humane, eco-kosher meat recommended by the Shalom Center. It'll be better for you, and it may be better for the future of the Jewish people.
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morally superior? not at all,theyre just depriving themselves of a good steak………..sounds downright criminal to me
I'm not a vegan, but I recognize that they're morally superior to people like me, who do. They deserve to pat themselves on the back.
now if only youll ban everyone else……………..
(Note from Craig: User was banned for this post.)
shut the f*** up u creep
How cowardly of you to delete my posts. Typical Jewish insolence-plagiarize my ideas and then afraid to debate with me
Elvis Baldwell
No mistake, Foxman knows what he is doing..the ADL wouldnt recognize the Armenian genocide because the "Young Turks" who were responsible for this nightmare were Jews representing the Rothschilds, heroes of "Israel"
yup totally hilarious
ill wait till after the fast to break out john lennon but apology accepted
I am willing to give H/H's the benefit of the doubt in all future interactions. Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me and you.
Those of us of religious background, who have lived and worked with Hassidic/Haredi folks, who work in the world outside of the H/H neighborhood, who are part of the rest of the Jewish world, and who interact daily with H/H's who come to our places of business, cannot help but come to the conclusion I stated originally, on which you quote me, and which upsets you.
The non-Jewish people with whom we work do not wish to be accused of antisemitism, and so they keep their opinion about this to themselves. But us Jews who know the H/H crowd only too well are not afraid to call it like we see it.
I am sorry if this is hurtful for you to read, but this is how many Jews feel about the H/H crowd. On a daily regular basis, the H/H crowd proves this theory to be correct.
On a positive note, let there be peace between you and me. I will offer an olive branch- let me state that I will not have that opinion about you, and please don't disappoint me. Â Be a mensch at all times, in your relationship with G-d, your fellow person, and on the internet.
p.p.s im on of those who think what rubashkins did is abominable but what the hell are u doing blaming all frum jews for their greediness and unscrupulousnessÂ
still doesnt explain ur comments    "Hassidic/haredi jews look down their noses at anyone who isn't one of
them; they consider you to be subhuman, and fair game for any crime
they wish to perpetrate upon you. Seeing these hassidic criminals get
their comeuppance is indeed a sweet bit of schadenfreude. " or is license to bash people exclusively ur domain in which case ill back off
p.s. ill add grammar to ur list of complaints against us evil chareidimÂ
I do not call you vulgar names, and you should not call me such names. I am sure you are a good decent person who is taking liberties with rudeness because the anonymity of the internet protects us both. Don't let the internet make you less of a mensch.Â
There are many children of all faiths in hospitals, with terrible illnesses. Is this because they, or their parents, are not religious enough? There is no answer, nor should we be looking to make such accusations.Â
When bad people do bad things, it comes back to hurt us all. You may not be aware at how widespread the damage is at so many levels because of this Rubashkin fiasco, and how the problem is being compounded by the spin of lies from the family, and the shoulder-shrugging response of the Orthodox leadership. The non-Jewish world is looking at this as a shocking redux of Upton Sinclair's book The Jungle. Many many Jews from all over the spectrum of faith are feeling deeply hurt by what the Rubashkin family has done, and how the word 'kosher' has lost its moral high ground. We can disagree on how to best achieve damage control, but we should not be at odds about what a terrible wrong has been committed by the Rushabkins and their sycophants in the Orthodox community.
Hope the rest of your fast goes by smoothly.Â
Ah, playing the Holocaust Card- when you run out of anything to say, equate your opponent with nazism. Or what the hell, if all us Jews don't agree with each other, unite us with a nazi reference. Nice try.Â
Hi Anonymous!
Hope the fast is going well for you.
At which yeshiva do you learn those words and that grammar? Lakewood, Monsey, or Boro Park?
Love,
WoolSilkCottonÂ
I cannot subscribe to the medieval logic that catastrophes befell Jews because we weren't good enough, religious enough or praying hard enough.
The temples were destroyed because we got in the way of the superpowers of the time and their powerful armies.
Hassidic/haredi jews look down their noses at anyone who isn't one of them; they consider you to be subhuman, and fair game for any crime they wish to perpetrate upon you. Seeing these hassidic criminals get their comeuppance is indeed a sweet bit of schadenfreude.Â
hey guys dont break your arm patting yourself on the back and earth to jupiter were all SO proud of u for being vegan …………..
…almost makes me want to buy some Shalom Center-endorsed eco-kosher meat. If I wasn't already a vegan, I'd be all over it.Â
By the way, the image of Savitsky's Super Bowl ad that you so deftly describe above, while revolting, is absolutely classic.Â
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