en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/828635 Comments by Yerachmiel Lopin http://yiddish.forward.com/articles/197694/novominsker-rebbe-urges-action-on-child-abuse/#IDComment1024983892 For the complete text of the Rebbe's speech, go to my blog, frum follies Thu, 30 Jun 2016 00:12:51 +0000 http://yiddish.forward.com/articles/197694/novominsker-rebbe-urges-action-on-child-abuse/#IDComment1024983892 http://forward.com/articles/218553/stanford-student-senate-candidate-asked-how-jewish/#IDComment964455402 your statement is equating crime in the Black community and policy choices. Having put forth her identity as a qualification is reasonable to ask how she stands on an issue that has many others with her identity polarized. Please no one is saying, given your Jewish identity do you endorse Jewish criminality. Just to clarify, if she says her identity is one of her qualifications for office, would it be OK to ask her views on a policy debate about a new proposal for kosher dining hall on campus. Again, this is not an obnoxious question, like "are you revolted by inhumane kosher slaughter." It is a non judgmental neutral question about her policy preferences on a question that has or is likely to come up for her to discuss and vote. She can stake a position or say she has none, or none yet. If it is OK to ask that question without regard to the expressed identity of the candidate, why not ask it when someone self-identifies as Jewish? Thu, 16 Apr 2015 04:21:21 +0000 http://forward.com/articles/218553/stanford-student-senate-candidate-asked-how-jewish/#IDComment964455402 http://forward.com/articles/218553/stanford-student-senate-candidate-asked-how-jewish/#IDComment964067164 I am a little puzzled. She presented her Jewish identity as part of the rationale for her candidacy. Many many major Jewish groups insist being Jewish all but necessitates being against BDS. BDS is a hotly debated topic on campuses. Why would it be wrong to ask her how her Jewish identity would shape her answers to that question? Tue, 14 Apr 2015 14:52:49 +0000 http://forward.com/articles/218553/stanford-student-senate-candidate-asked-how-jewish/#IDComment964067164 http://forward.com/articles/218309/of-neiman-marcus-kinky-friedman-and--other-thing/#IDComment963589063 How can you not dwell on Kinky Friedman's writing and C&W singing, much more successful aspects of his career than his bid for office? There is also the oh-so quotable Kinky: "Well, I just said that Jesus and I were both Jewish and that neither of us ever had a job, we never had a home, we never married and we traveled around the countryside irritating people." And of course there is his C&W hit: ""They Ain't Making Jews Like Jesus Anymore". but if you are going to discuss Kinky, the politician, your readers are owed some of his choice quotes: - "How can you look at the Texas legislature and still believe in intelligent design?" - "We're first on executions. We're 49th in funding public education. We're in a race with Mississippi for the bottom, and we're winning." - "May the God of your choice bless and keep you. I respect Him as long as He does not circumcise me anymore." - "Musicians can run this state better than politicians. We won't get a lot done in the mornings, but we'll work late and be honest." Sun, 12 Apr 2015 11:00:05 +0000 http://forward.com/articles/218309/of-neiman-marcus-kinky-friedman-and--other-thing/#IDComment963589063 http://forward.com/articles/216105/jeffrey-epstein-charities-eyed-by-ny-prosecutor-er/#IDComment955306473 The article states, "Three past grant recipients told Reuters in January they will decline to accept any future gifts from Epstein in the wake of the recent sex allegations." The allegations are not recent, nor even publicity about them. However they received renewed attention in connection with the lawsuit that claims Epstein also used his underage sex slaves to pleasure Prince Andrew and attorney Alan Dershowitz. Fri, 6 Mar 2015 11:50:30 +0000 http://forward.com/articles/216105/jeffrey-epstein-charities-eyed-by-ny-prosecutor-er/#IDComment955306473 http://blogs.forward.com/sisterhood-blog/215302/#IDComment952597371 Bethany, you write, it’s irresponsible and cruel to assign blame for his actions on any individual besides the offender himself." That is a misleading representation of the complaint. His abuse of power of conversion candidates was the subject of an investigation by the Rabbinical Council of America. Other converts have since complained about how he treated them. While nobody may have seen clues of his mikveh voyeurism, do you see no connection between abuse of power in other situations and abuse of power in the mikveh. Mon, 23 Feb 2015 16:25:08 +0000 http://blogs.forward.com/sisterhood-blog/215302/#IDComment952597371 http://forward.com/articles/213364/is-circumcision-ritual-dangerous-no-and-yes/#IDComment945276324 I am surprised that the Forward did not seek the opinion of the experts at Centers for Disease Control on the Rockland claims. After all they are the worlds experts on epidemiology and the source of the definitive scientific paper on MBP as a cause of neonatal herpes type 1. I am also intrigued by the complete absence of any competing explanation for why these cases are predominantly affecting boys, since transmission from mothers should equally affect both male and female infants. Additionally, as noted, these cases in rockland are attributed to MBP because they are unusually, in the genital area and the outbreak is timed to about a week after circumcision. All this leads me to wonder if we are dealing with some methodological defect or even fraud in the collection of evidence, most likely, some failure in the chain of evidence integrity. Tue, 27 Jan 2015 13:31:32 +0000 http://forward.com/articles/213364/is-circumcision-ritual-dangerous-no-and-yes/#IDComment945276324 http://blogs.forward.com/sisterhood-blog/172233/#IDComment925322754 No problem. I just wish the Forward would concede that their reporter, Paul Berger was too hungry for a scoop and too willing to trust doctored tapes of bugged conversations which came from the family of the most notorious molester in Boro Park to malign a Hasidic whistleblowing father of a abuse victim. In their zeal, as I Tweeted at the time, they even carelessly left up a Tweet referring to Sam Kellner as convicted when the case was already slated for dismissal, as was public knowledge. Sun, 7 Dec 2014 00:42:35 +0000 http://blogs.forward.com/sisterhood-blog/172233/#IDComment925322754 http://forward.com/#IDComment924790499 Thank you for revising your judgment of the facts and my reporting. I am curious about what caused you to change your mind? Fri, 5 Dec 2014 19:34:20 +0000 http://forward.com/#IDComment924790499 http://zeek.forward.com/articles/118426/#IDComment918651947 The test of your thesis is whether it can be operationalized. If you really want to compete with the Cohen-Wertheimer analysis, how would you empirically determine how many jews are going in this new direction. Mon, 24 Nov 2014 23:15:25 +0000 http://zeek.forward.com/articles/118426/#IDComment918651947 http://forward.com/articles/209225/brilliant-jewish-mathematician-and-mysterious-recl/#IDComment911868711 You are attributing his declining productivity to depression over social injustice. But it is a fact that theoretical brilliance among mathematicians tends to fall off rapidly after early adulthood. This is also true in the physical and biological sciences but not quite as rapidly. very few mathematicians with brilliant accomplishments in their teens and twenties replicate their originality in their 40s and 50s let alone in their 70s and 80s. Fri, 14 Nov 2014 17:32:28 +0000 http://forward.com/articles/209225/brilliant-jewish-mathematician-and-mysterious-recl/#IDComment911868711 http://forward.com/#IDComment910104409 I would think that some or all of these organizations issue annual reports, usually with a signoff by an accounting firm. What did you find when you looked at them? I realize that requires covering lot more ground. but it certainly should be doable for a smaller subset. Wed, 12 Nov 2014 00:49:41 +0000 http://forward.com/#IDComment910104409 http://blogs.forward.com/sisterhood-blog/208468/#IDComment905863638 It is hard to come up with a mature reply to your insult. Suffice it to say, you are giving a bad name to Haredim by showing an inability to deal with substance and public civility... again. As factual background see the ruling of the revered Jewish law authority Rabbi Moshe Feinstein that it is permitted to sit besides women in public transport, even in subways where there can be actual body contact. His advice to those with lustful thoughts is to concentrate on torah thoughts and study. Rabbi Feinstein is widely accepted as the single most important American Jewish law authority to date in most of the Haredi world. This is not about Jewish law or Haredim. This is about jerks who have perverse hangups about women and are obsessed that they cannot be holy or even control themselves unless women are totally removed even to the point of blocking out pictures of highly respected women in their own community. This is a new perversion of Judaism totally contrary to the norms of the hasidic world of Europe or America in the 40s-80s. Are we obliged to accept some yet newer and nuttier perversion of Judaism as well? Are you also condemning R. Moshe Feinstein? Thu, 6 Nov 2014 01:47:13 +0000 http://blogs.forward.com/sisterhood-blog/208468/#IDComment905863638 http://blogs.forward.com/sisterhood-blog/208468/#IDComment905606489 A plane is public transportation; it is a public space. There is no place for enforcing segregation in public spaces. Hasidim who contrive extra-halachic rules to blot out women should either remove themselves from public spaces or respect them and their rules. Wed, 5 Nov 2014 18:27:41 +0000 http://blogs.forward.com/sisterhood-blog/208468/#IDComment905606489 http://yiddish.forward.com/articles/177678/lev-tahor-and-palestinians/?p=all#IDComment816005517 This article is weird. He is saying that secular-leftist pro-Palestinians should also support Lev Tahor, ignoring their history of kidnapping and criminality and making like they are being persecuted by Canada for their middle east political views. The fact is that they are being subjected to the same laws as other Canadians, left and right, pro and anti-Palestinian. There are laws about child abuse, marriage age, physical health of children, and immigration law. It is chutzpah to claim you are targeted if you have overstayed your visa by almost a decade and ignored notices and deportation orders for almost that long. It is chutzpah to claim persecution because the courts no longer trust you to show up in court when you have jumped border repeatedly (e.g., Quebec, Ontario, Alberta, Trinidad and Tobago, Guatemala, etc.), just days before your final appearance after a prolonged legal process. It is chutzpah to insist you deserve to be trusted when one lawyer after another quits on you after you put them in the position of having made promises on your behalf which you flout. It is chutzpah to claim you are good Canadian citizens when wherever you go, you leave behind a trail of unpaid bills. Helbrans has a talent. He commits crimes and when he gets prosecuted he claims he has enemies because of his ideology. Really! In which country is kidnapping a protected form of free speech? In which democracy, however liberal, is child abuse a protected form of free speech? Why isn't the Canadian equivalent of the ACLU defending Helbrans? ANSWER: because these groups defend civil liberties and free speech, not scumbags hiding behind it to commit actual crimes. My final question: if Israel and the dread Zionists are so vicious to Haredi anti-Zionists, why haven't any of the Neturei Karta fled Israel? Yes, Palestinians are treated harshly. Yes, they welcome the support of NK. But I can think of a thousand Palestinian prisoners who would gladly live with being treated like the NK by the Israeli government. I understand that the old passions of Abraham Cahan's Forward have mutated to a new willingness to live with traditional Judaism. But this sort of drivel must be making Cahan turn over in his grave. In fact if this keeps up, he will be known as Pinwheel Cahan. Thu, 10 Apr 2014 14:05:05 +0000 http://yiddish.forward.com/articles/177678/lev-tahor-and-palestinians/?p=all#IDComment816005517 http://blogs.forward.com/sisterhood-blog/194267/#IDComment804317083 You know a position is bankrupt when no attempt is made to defend it and the author goes on the attack. At least concede the accuracy of the critique and say that another important problem is Jewish illiteracy among secular and liberal Jews. Instead you totally skirt the point of the article and switch to another topic. That is another problem with the Haredi world: incoherence. Over and over I have noticed that Haredi apologists argue by misdirection and topic shifting. As someone raised and nurtured on talmudic reasoning in Agudah aligned yeshivas this is disappointing. It makes me wonder if there is even decent talmudic education. In my day, whatever the weaknesses of our secular education we knew how to stay on-topic when arguing. Wed, 12 Mar 2014 00:50:50 +0000 http://blogs.forward.com/sisterhood-blog/194267/#IDComment804317083 http://blogs.forward.com/sisterhood-blog/194267/#IDComment804307942 Frimet, Thank you for this fine essay. Yes, the culture of KJ and many other Hasidic and some yeshivish communities is fostering incompetence that condemns most of its graduates to lifelong poverty and socio-political incompetence. This is convenient for the leaders who live well off their ability to deliver their votes and facilitate their social welfare benefits. It is time to say it: the leadership of such communities are welfare pimps. We know why the NYS government looks the other way at this violation of state education law. It is corrupted by Haredi votes. I question why other Jews do not protest at this culture of poverty and ignorance. Where are all the conservatives who rail about the same problems in non-Jewish minority populations. Where are all the liberals so concerned about educational opportunity for minorities. Why for that matter does no-child left behind carefully examine all sorts of differences between groups but ignores it in this group? Tom Wolfe parodied African-American activists who over-did the radical shtick and mau maued the white man. Why are non-Haredi Jews and gentiles so afraid to say, this is not a question of religious liberty? I would add on that Lev Tahor's enforced ignorance does go beyond the ignorance of KJ. Their kids don't even understand a traffic light's messages. Moreover, for all of KJ's insularity, the kids growing up there learn about the existence of other hasidim and realize there is something beyond a cult like clan of a few hundred. I am not aware of an epidemic of severe foot fungus among Satmar girls. Moreover, girls, if not boys usually do acquire basic literacy, numeracy and keyboarding skills. Moreover, for all the insularity of Satmar, I am not aware of anywhere the same level of absolute isolation from the outside world. Wed, 12 Mar 2014 00:17:33 +0000 http://blogs.forward.com/sisterhood-blog/194267/#IDComment804307942 http://forward.com/articles/194025/brooklyn-prosecutor-moves-to-dismiss-charges-again/#IDComment802445660 Missing from this news report is that ADA O'Donnell clearly stated that the Vecchione/Hynes witnesses (M. Lebovits, M. Gabbai Friedman & abuse victim, MT) were not credible. Fancy for the idea that Vecchione/Hynes/Lebovits/Dershowitz/Aidala & Joe Alexis brought a shoddy fraudulent case to protect the notorious molester, Baruch Lebovits. It is time for the Forward to retract its shoddy story by Paul Berger. I find it interesting the Berger is not responding to questions about his shoddy article. Does the Forward have the integrity to retract its scurrilous allegations against Kellner handed to them by Lebovits and Dershowitz? Fri, 7 Mar 2014 18:38:55 +0000 http://forward.com/articles/194025/brooklyn-prosecutor-moves-to-dismiss-charges-again/#IDComment802445660 http://blogs.forward.com/sisterhood-blog/193564/#IDComment799257437 With your background you should have asked him what kavanos he had before sex, how tightly he closed his eyes, how completely he blocked out light, whether he was successful in keeping his concentration on the mitzvah, how he planned to occupy himself until they could have sex again. As an afterthought you can ask if he enjoyed. As a super afterthought you can ask if he noticed whether his wife enjoyed it. Thu, 27 Feb 2014 23:20:38 +0000 http://blogs.forward.com/sisterhood-blog/193564/#IDComment799257437 http://forward.com/articles/192746/the-silence-around-sex-in-the-haredi-world/#IDComment796842420 Notorious613. With a name like that you should focus on the ikkar, the multiple violations of halachah and law in the conduct of these men as well as the raging hypocrisy. You are displaying ADHD, an inability to focus on the question. No one asked you for advice about hitchhiking, We were discussing the question of whether the frum world would be better off with some elementary sex education tailored to heimish situation so students can comprehend that they will have urges and learn how to control them. Please continue you on with your irrelevant diversions. You are exhibit A for the failure of Haredi education to prepare people to admit and fix serious problems. No wonder child molesting is such a serious problem. People like you would rather change the topic or blame the problem on makeup, the internet, and the denier count of stockings. Fri, 21 Feb 2014 02:56:43 +0000 http://forward.com/articles/192746/the-silence-around-sex-in-the-haredi-world/#IDComment796842420