Malbim On The "reform" movement

Malbim on Mishley
Rabbi Meir Leibush Malbim
Feldheim Publishers
0-87306-280-9

from the introduction:
“Already in 1844, however, Malbim realized that on another battlefield he could counter those whose heady rush toward assimilation was not to be stemmed. A “synod” of Reform leaders in Braunschweig, Germany that year-which he called an assembly of “shepherds who butcher their sheep and call themselves rabbis, preachers, cantors and shochtim (ritual slaughterers) of their communities”-made him aware of the dire need for a sound contemporary commentary on the Hebrew Bible. For the Reform camp was producing interpretations of Scripture, supposedly based on the literal or “original” meaning of the Hebrew, which did not so much reform as deform everything sacred in the Jewish heritage. Reform particularly attacked the Talmud's interpretation of Scriptural texts, on which the Oral Law is largely based.”

The Reform Movement: Nothing But Trouble For The Jews

    I wrote an article called The Future Christians Of America where I described the effects of the Reform movement on Diaspora Jews.  Below is an article that details Rabbi Eliyahu's opinion on the Reform movement in Germany.

________________________________________________________________________

PM blasts rabbi's Holocaust remarks

Apr. 19, 2007
Haviv Rettig Gur , THE JERUSALEM POST

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert Thursday condemned as "hurtful" and "spurious" comments made by former Sephardi chief rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu that the victims of the Holocaust were made to suffer because of the sins of the Reform Movement.

In a letter to Steven M. Bauman and Rabbi Uri Regev, the chairman and president, respectively, of the World Union for Progressive Judaism, Olmert wrote: "We recently marked Holocaust Martyrs and Heroes Remembrance Day here in Israel, and I was disturbed that it was precisely at this painful time that certain spurious comments were made regarding the cause of the horrors inflicted on our people, and unequivocally condemn any such hurtful expressions.

"Let me be clear," Olmert wrote, "the murder of more than six million of our brothers and sisters in the Holocaust was perpetrated by the evil and immoral Nazi regime and its collaborators. The only 'sin' committed by the victims was being born Jewish.

"The Reform Movement is a vital and vibrant part of modern Judaism, and the government and people of the State of Israel admire your contribution to Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora," Olmert concluded.

Other angry responses to Eliyahu's remarks continued to be heard.

"Removing our Reform brothers and sisters from the camp does not contribute to unity, but rather sows the seeds of division and baseless hatred," Jewish Agency chairman Ze'ev Bielski wrote to former Sephardi chief rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu this week.

"Rabbi Eliyahu should remember precisely that the victims of the Holocaust came from all Jewish denominations, the secular along with the religious," suggested the Anti-Defamation League's Israel Office in a statement Thursday.

Olmert and the organizations were reacting to an interview given on pirate haredi radio station Kol Ha'emet ("The Voice of Truth"), in which Eliyahu was asked for what sin the Holocaust victims were punished. He replied that the victims were not to blame, but rather were made to suffer because of the sins of the Reform Movement.

"The Reformers started in Germany," he explained. "Those redactors of the Jewish faith began in Germany. We learn from this that it is forbidden to attempt to change Judaism."

Bielski told Eliyahu he "was shocked to hear your words relating the Holocaust to the rise of the Reform movement in Germany," and insisted that "your words could be interpreted as removing from the Nazi tyrant the responsibility, passing it on to our Jewish brothers."

The Anti-Defamation League further noted that Eliyahu's "argumentative use of the Shoah" was a "travesty of the memory of its martyrs."

Reflecting on Eliyahu's statements, Rabbi Michael Marmur, dean of the Jerusalem campus of the Reform Movement's Hebrew Union College, said he believes "the problem here is the deep perversity of claiming to know what it is that has caused the greatest cataclysm of Jewish history. It's saying, 'I, Rabbi Eliyahu, read about the Shoah, and it turns out there's an identifiable group to blame.'"

A child of Holocaust survivors, Marmur insisted that "calling [Eliyahu's statements] insulting hardly does them justice.  "What is it that allows a man like Eliyahu to give himself the right to behave in this kind of way?" he asked. "I think here there are political explanations. It's been our experience for years as Reform Jews in Israel that whenever a religious political party needed a boost, a little bit of Reform-bashing went a long way."

Eliyahu, who rarely consents to be interviewed, could not be reached for comment by press time.

Largest Concentration Of Jews Is In Israel-5,500,000

Sep 25, 2008 15:01
World Jewish population grows by 70,000
By JPOST.COM STAFF

The world's Jewish population is on the rise, up 70,000 in the past year, and currently stands at 13.3 million people, annual statistics released by the Jewish Agency on Thursday found.  The figures showed that the largest concentration of Jews was in Israel, with 5,500,000 people. Not far behind was the United States, with a Jewish population of 5,300,000. France, Canada, Britain, Russia, Argentina, Germany, Australia, and Brazil were also mentioned among the top ten Jewish population centers.

Regarding immigration to Israel, the Jewish Agency statistics showed that the numbers continue to remain positive, with over 10,000 new and returning Israeli citizens arriving in the past year.

The statistics also highlighted that in North America alone, nearly 1.5 million people currently live in interfaith households which include at least one Jewish member.  "There is a tangible threat of assimilation hovering over the Jewish people," Jewish Agency chairman Ze'ev Bielski said in a statement released by the Agency. "The Jewish Agency is working and increasing its efforts todeepen Jewish education in Jewish communities, to strengthen the Jewish identity of the younger generation in the Diaspora and to tighten the connection between Jewish communities and the state of Israel."

Silverstein On Mumbai Attacks

taken from KapoDickie - an Adventure in Jewish Self-Hatred

Little Dickie Defends the Mumbai Nazis - they were Not Anti-Semitic

As a public service, we are reprinting a blog entry from the Israellycool blog:
Silverstein Outdoes Himself

by Aussie Dave

Self-important windbag Richard Silverstein wants everyone to know that the Mumbai terrorists - who went out of their way to find the Jewish Chabad House
and murder Jews (in a city comprising approximately 18 million people, of which
about 5,000 are Jews) - were not anti-Semitic.
And he knows this because the terrorists never said even one anti-Semitic
word.
http://www.richardsilverstein.com/tikun_olam/2008/12/05/the-jewish-jihadis/
In the Forward, an Indian who spoke for hours with the Chabad House terrorist never indicated in his report that anti-Semitic words were spoken to him.
Brilliant!
Somehow, the fact that the terrorists may never have said “kikes” to Rabbi and Rebbetzin Holtzberg and the other Jewish victims as they murdered them in cold blood is hardly compelling evidence of the absence of anti-Semitic intent. Then again, the fact that Silverstein has a blog and claims to know what he is talking about is not compelling evidence of the presence of intellect.
If you don’t believe me, read his post, which includes the words “Jewish jihadis” and a comparison between the Mumbai terrorists and the “Hebron pogromists” (his words - not mine - for the more violent of the Jewish residents of Hebron who despite their terrible actions have not murdered anyone).

Bar-Ilan University historian: Jews killed Christians in ritual murders

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/824152.html
Last update - 08:03 11/02/2007
Anger over Bar-Ilan historian's allegations on blood libels
By Ofri Ilani, Haaretz Correspondent, and AP
A Bar-Ilan University historian has raised a storm by alleging in a new book that some
blood libels - accusations that Jews killed Christians in ritual murders to add their blood
to matza and wine on Passover - may be based on real ceremonies in which the blood of
Christians was actually used.
"Pasque di Sangue," by Ariel Toaff, was just released in Italy. It shocked the country's
small Jewish community - in part because he is the son of Elio Toaff, the chief rabbi who
welcomed Pope John Paul II to Rome's synagogue two decades ago in a historic visit that
helped ease Catholic-Jewish relations after centuries of tensions.
The author, who is considered an international expert on Italian Jewry, delves into
allegations that resulted in torture, show trials and executions, periodically devastating
Europe's Jewish communities.
Historians have long dismissed the allegations as racism, but blood libel stories remain
popular in anti-Semitic literature.
Jewish and Catholic scholars have denounced Toaff's work, saying he simply
reinterpreted known documents - and has given credence to confessions extracted under
torture.
In an interview with the Italian newspaper La Stampa, Toaff responded angrily to his
critics, saying, "My research shows that in the Middle Ages, a group of fundamentalist
Jews did not respect the biblical prohibition and used blood for healing. It is just one
group of Jews, who belonged to the communities that suffered the severest persecution
during the Crusades. From this trauma came a passion for revenge that in some cases led
to responses, among them ritual murder of Christian children."
Italian rabbis issued a statement recalling that Jewish law has always banned ingesting
blood or using it for rituals.
Toaff's 91-year-old father said he was looking forward to reading his son's book and
examining the documents, but stressed that according to the Torah and tradition, the
consumption of animal blood was strictly prohibited, not to mention that of humans.
In an interview Friday with The Associated Press, Toaff said, "There is no proof that
Jews committed such an act." But he added that the confessions do hold some truth - as
when the accused recount anti-Christian liturgies that were mainly used on Passover,
when the Israelites' liberation from ancient Egypt became a metaphor for Judaism's hope
for redemption from its suffering at the hands of Christians.
"These liturgical formulas in Hebrew cannot be projections of the judges who could not
know these prayers, which didn't belong to Italian rites but to the Ashkenazi tradition," he
said.
The 65-year-old Toaff, a rabbi who holds dual Italian and Israeli citizenship, said, "I
wanted to see how the Jews felt in this climate of hatred."
Monsignor Iginio Rogger, a church historian who in the 1960s led the investigation into
the murder of a 2-year-old Simon of Trento, for which 16 Jews were hanged, said many
scholars have concurred that the confessions were completely unreliable.
"I wouldn't want to be in [Toaff's] shoes, answering for this to historians who have
seriously documented this case," he said. "The judges used horrible tortures, to the point
where the accused pleaded: 'Tell us what you want us to say.'"
Hebrew University historian Professor Israel J. Yuval, a blood-libel expert, said, "From
the information I have received, Professor Toaff's interpretation sounds trumped-up."
The Anti-Defamation League chairman, Abe Foxman, said, "It's hard for me to believe
that someone, especially an Israeli historian, would legitimize the baseless claims of the
blood libels."
Bar-Ilan University spokesman, Shmulik Algrabli, said, "Professor Toaff is one of the
greatest scholars in his field, and we have confidence in his scientific method. The
contentions of the study will be clarified when the author returns to Israel."

Richard Silverstein vs. Brodsky

taken from KapoDickie - an Adventure in Jewish Self-Hatred

Oh boo hoo, sobs KapoDickie, claims Seva Brodsky Threatens to Harm Him!

Three cheers for Seva Brodsky!


Anyone who attacks Richard Silverstein has our sympathy!


Little Dickie claims on his silly little blog site that Seva Brodsky threatened to do him harm. Evidently, Brodsky's main act of abuse against the world's leading supporter of Hamas terror was to tell the truth about Kapo Dickie. According to Silverstein's blog, Brodsky wrote:


1. Richard. Judenrat in action. Why do my people have so many sickos?
2. Richard, you can go and jump off the bridge…if you are hesitating whether to jump, I can assure you that you should — hell, I would even be willing to give you a push, should you be in need of it.
3. We have enough morons and self-loathing Jews (including you)…
4…You are a…thug.
4. I have to apologize to you for calling you a self-loathing Jew — Richard Silverstein, you are NOT a Jew. You may have been born into Jewish family, but that does not necessarily a Jew make.
You are a person of Jewish lineage, but certainly NOT a Jew. Moreover, you are an enemy of the Jewish people. The evil Torquemada, who went on to become The Grand Inquisitor of Spain, was a convert from Judaism — the grandest Capo of them all. You, of course, have not (yet) reached his stature, but you are still despicable.
Don’t ever let me meet you in person, you over-sensitive thug.


Brodsky also upset Little Dickie when he wrte an essay on "The Unholy Trinity of strange bedfellows: Islamo-Fascists, Neo-Nazis, and left-wing radical extremists." All three terms pretty much define Dickie.

Richard Silverstein: Tikun Dungeon Monologues

RS: What do you think the Jewish Theological Seminary teaches? Faux Judaism?
TK: YESSSS! That is the whole point of this blog…Richie-do you wear Wonder-Woman underoos while watching your favorite PBS telethon?
RS: If Tsadok, or whatever he calls himself,…
TK: Maybe I should have been born/chosen a cool name like “Richard Silverstein.” That way I can use self-hate and 2-year-old’s understanding of Judaism to bully the world into hating Israel! The fact that you have reproduced proves that natural selection doesn’t work (the Nazi’s were wrong).
Justin White: Red-Neck ‘Baal Teshuva’
RS: To my utter amazement, a reader wrote to defend Pegler and attack me.
TK: I wasn’t attacking you-I was asking how someone could be considered an “anti-Semite” if he married a Jew. If someone has a Jewish spouse, he is around Semitism all day long. That is common sense. Don’t all of your reform boyfriends have non-Jewish wives? You can identify with that Richie!
RS: Somewhere along the line he converted to Judaism.
TK: Yes-I was walking down the street and a wind blew me into a synagogue (Sefardic).
RS: At one time long ago, our religion actively proselytized.
TK: Huh? When? I lot of people ask me about this comment. Do you mean the reform movement 150 years ago? Aren’t they doing that now?
RS: …we didn’t refuse anyone who wanted to throw in their lot with us.
TK: How about those Jews who throw their lots with the enemy?

ספר דברים פרק כג
לא יבא עמוני ומואבי בקהל יהוה גם דור עשירי לא יבא להם בקהל יהוה עד עולם

Deuteronomy Chapter 23
4. An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord; to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the Lord forever;
Apparently not dude! Whoops: Rabbi Brenda taught you something WRONG!
RS: Once someone did convert, there were very strict rules insisting that the community embrace baaley teshuva as if they were one of our own.
TK: A convert is someone with a non-Jewish mother. A חוזר בתשובה is someone who has at least a Jewish mother. Read the above response.
RS: But then a piece of work like Justin comes along…
TK: I think you plagiarized this from my mom.
RS: Isn’t it astonishing that some one who claims to be an Orthodox convert would make the claim that he’s witnessed Jewish behavior “many times” worse than anything Pegler noted?
I JUST videotaped a fight between a old Russian man and like 4 Arabs. If you write to my email address, I’d send you the entire .mp4. This is not the first such incident-I have others on request. How long did you spend here Richie? One month?
RS: mean-spirited
TK: Hitler thought of himself as the nicest guy in the world-he just went after everyone who disagreed with him. Gee Richie, doesn’t that sound familiar?
RS: you’ll note Justin’s extreme modesty
“I am probably the strongest convert of my generation.”
TK: Maybe you are right. However, if you ask Rav Ovadia if he was the גדול הדור then he would say yes I’d imagine. If you asked Richard Silverstein is he was the control freak of the generation he’d say yes. NU?
RS: it’s entirely possible White was as insufferable before he became a Jew as after.
TK: Before I was an only child. Now I am a Chosen Only Child.
RS: Instead, he becomes a caricature of the worst that Judaism has to offer.
TK: Richard-I am sure you are talking about yourself. Ruth accepted onto herself עול המצוות this is what is written on an “orthodox” conversion certificate. You and your cronies don’t. You twist her story into something to suit your own philosophy-the is the basis behind Reformianity-Rabbi Brenda’s religion. You never mention that ALL Jews were observant during those times. Those were the glory days of Judaism. David came from Ruth because she, like all Jews, took upon herself all of the Torah’s commandments.
btw: Richie-did you get a box of Tampax for your bar-mitzvah? Seriously-you take the self-hating liberal European Jew a little too far. Did you have a circumcision or a castration? You are a caricature of the worst that NBJ’s (Natural Born Jews) have to offer: self-hating, assimilated, desperate to be accepted, emasculated, overly-sensitive, academic control-freak!
Justin White: Jew as Anti-Semite
RS: the strange attitudes of baal teshuvah, Justin White…
TK: I am strange? Richie you are as queer as folk man-admit it! People here AND there are talking about your HIV+ photo! Another time, someone who doesn’t have a Jewish mother is not a “returnee” to Judaism.
RS: to prove his racial superiority
TK: You are the cause of the tension between people. I am not the only one who says this. Stop it with the gestapo crap man-you are the commander of the Thought Police, Rich-not I.
RS: ..the kind, loving Ruth..
TK: Ruth didn’t have to put up with people like you. There are limits, man. I would bring food even to you Richie if you were starving to death, but not while you are busy conspiring with the enemies of the Jewish nation. Ruth would have smacked your face I’m sure. Her descendants conquered Gaza and the surrounding territories-she lived to see this. I should live to see our enemies conquered-the internal ones as well. Only a man like you would hijack Ruth’s legacy and use it against another convert. This is like spiritual 9-11!
RS: You’ll also note that White claims that the Jewish Theological Seminary, which he claims espouses “Judianity,” is as good as promoting Christianity by bastardizing Judaism.
TK: You want to write than idea again, Rich?
RS: White doesn’t seem to know anything about the language.
TK: The first thing my friends in college did was to tell me about Yiddish. This past Shabbat (10-11-08) I was walking in the Bar-Ilan area of Jerusalem and I talked to people whose שפת אם is Yiddish.
RS: I have never heard Yiddish described as “Germanic-Hebrew”
TK: I never heard it called something else. Another convert יהושע הדר was from Germany and confirmed this (10 years ago in Yeshiva). It is German from the Middle Ages.
RS: You think that saying that Jerusalem should be shared with the Palestinians is “mocking” it??
TK: Jerusalem is the capital of the Land Of Israel. Israel belong to the Jewish people. If I have to quote sources to you on this, then you are so stupid that it is not worth writing these replies to you (which may be the case).
RS: I am not a child. I am the voice of reason & pragmatism. Yours is the voice of the lunatic fringe that would take Israel down the road to ruin.
TK: Arabs and Haredim להבדיל are reproducing fast. They will decide-not you and your descendants. You are a fossil-a glimmer of the past Jewish world-view (secular).
I am entitled to invent what I want.
Yep. What part of that sentence did you not understand? You and all of your Jew-hating trouble makers spend years and tons of money going to University so you can tell Jews and gentiles how much you hate your religion and your own people. You write books and magazines and appear on the TV (especially in Israel). You specialize in mind control-you are the epitome of closeness. If I want to talk about Rabbi Brenda or post-Semitism, than I will and I don’t have to have the kofer-brigade chicken-picking me to death because of it.
In fact, I’ve shown that your own Jewish education has holes big enough to drive a Mack truck through.
Read your blog then read mine. Compare. Done.
Justin White Trots Out the Kapo Insult
RS: foaming-at-the-mouth Jew-hating,
TK: This is where you have no credibility. This is why people on other website make fun of you. I have the highest conversion possible. I learned Hebrew from scratch and I came alone to Israel (completely). Jew-hating? This is why your blog is a rag.
RS: Arab-hating,
TK: I hate anyone who behaves in a disgusting way. The Gemara says:
תלמוד בבלי מסכת פסחים דף קיג/ב
יראת ה’ (שונאי) [שנאת] רע
“Fear of Heaven is the hatred of evil.” Yes Richie, HATRED of evil. Some of our neighbors think about killing Jews 24/7. The don’t stop for Ramadan. If you read my conversion story, you see that I worked for Syrians (no hate there).
RS: Ashkenazi-hating,
TK: You are Ashkenazi and you hate yourself. So you are Ashkenazi-hating, Richie. Like a mathematical proof!
RS: Yiddish-hating
TK: I have lived in Israel for 6 years. No one here friggin cares about Yiddish. Askenazi Haredim don’t pester other people with it. It isn’t their pride and joy-they just speak it and that is it. The people in my essay-Berkowitz-Moore-Kaufman-Cohen-thought of Yiddish as their grandparents’ language. Their grandparents are deceased. Israelis speak Hebrew and Hebrew is the future. Let Europe go.
btw: I work for a Haredi-Ashkenazi Rabbi whose first language is Yiddish. Nu? Whats the problem Richie?
RS: Here he uses the tired Kahanist trope of calling me a Kapo. You’d think after the 20th or 30th time someone tried this here that they’d try to invent a newer, fresher insult:
TK: Where there is smoke there is fire.
Daniel Barenboim, one of the world’s most distinguished conductors,
from Wiki:
“Barenboim originally had been scheduled to perform the first act of Die Walküre with three singers, including tenor Plácido Domingo. However, strong protests by some Holocaust survivors, as well as the Israeli government, led the festival authorities to ask for an alternative program. “
“On January 12, 2008, after a concert in Ramallah, he declared that he had accepted honourary Palestian citizenship,…”
This person played Wagner in Israel, and you are calling me insensitive to Askenazim? You want to answer this? Hopefully he’ll move to Palestine and become part of some Arab’s harem.
Pipes ‘Distinguished Fellow’ at Hoover Institution
RS: …bitter, hateful intellectual petty tyrants like Pipes…
TK: This is Richie’s name-calling at its best! And yet once again he describes himself in the most arrogant way possible. Read what Richie has written above and about anyone else that disagrees with his myopic view of the Jewish world. Bingo-he describes himself to a tee. Unfortunately, like a lot of hypocritical leftists, he can criticize everyone-except himself (the trademark of a small mind).
RS: He has a serious case of self-regard that isn’t justified by the anything more than hype, puffery…
Richie-instead of calling your blog “Tikun Olam” like every other self-hating reform weasel, why don’t you use the above quote to describe your own web page? Sounds like you are jealous of Pipes! Calm down, honey…
RS: With Friends Like Dershowitz, Does Obama Need Enemies?
I can’t tell whether I despise Marty Peretz or Alan Dershowitz more.
TK: Wow-here Richie reveals his true self. Is this anyway to talk about your fellow Jews?
Amitay to J Street: Gloves Are Off
RS: Despite the fact that Amitay has stridently right-wing views about Israel and U.S. politics, I don’t imagine he’d want it known that he’s in cahoots with such extremist groups as ZOA.
TK: What’s the matter Silverstein? Are you afraid that your own religion might actually be correct?
David Shasha’s ‘Obsession’ Review
RS: For someone who accuses the filmmakers of using “pilpul,” it sounds like Shasha needs to wrap his own rhetoric in academic “Ashkenazi” clothes in order to sell his critique of the film. I think any remnants of Sefardic culture have been effectively erased!
TK: …the Jewish-produced documentary “Obsession.”
This sounds like self-hating Ashkenazi. I’d think you were the late Bobby Fischer in disguise!
RS: The motif “Arab as Nazi”
TK: The Arabs pass out the “Protocols”. They says horrific things about Jews (I have been there to hear it). They commit heinous acts against Jews like suicide bombings. Where are you, buddy?
RS: passionate hatred bordering on the pathological
TK: Are you talking about “Tikun Olam?” Aren’t academics like yourself passionate and hateful? You just mask your rage in academic grammar.
RS: fanatical Zionism that is regularly taught in American Jewish Day Schools each and every day
TK: The fact that the Land Of Israel belongs to Jews is part of the Jewish religion. Sefaradim are most known for hibat Tsion “the love of Tsion.” Sefaradim are the CORE of the right-wing in Israel-you know this Mr. Shasha!
RS: Such is the pyrrhic victory..
TK: I think the Pyrrhic victory will be that of assimilated Enlightenment Jews who spent furious energy denouncing their own religion. In the meanwhile, they have 0-2 children and continue to intermarry. Religious Jews are having more and more children and will inevitably be the majority. Thus, all of your ranting and raving is for naught.
Lord of the Land: Some Countries Have an Army, the IDF Has a Country
1. On November 17th, 2008 at 7:04 pm
Taming Korach said:
The reason why the IDF is so important is because it and its predecessors (The Hagana and the Irgun) were and ARE involved in continuous wars/conflicts. Many Israelies do army service and there is a draft in Israel. I think comparing it to other “Western countries” is a mistake because Israel is not located in the West and neither are its surrounding neighbors/enemies!
2. On November 17th, 2008 at 11:31 pm
Richard Silverstein said:
@Taming Korach:
I think comparing it to other “Western countries” is a mistake
Israel itself wishes to be considered a developed nation and not a 3rd world nation. Israel itself constantly compares itself to western nations. So what you’re saying is that when it’s convenient to you you’d like to compare Israel favorably to western nations. But when it’s not, you can just as easily claim it’s unfair to compare Israel to western countries.
Nice work if you can get it…
3. On November 18th, 2008 at 2:56 am
Taming Korach said:
Richard-I see you interpret everything through Western eyes. You are assuming Western=1st world and non-Western=3rd world. Western in this context I think means Enlightenment values and Western culture. China and Japan are not Western and have risen or are on the rise.
Israel doesn’t know what it is. It doesn’t have a formal constitution. I am not sure if you have been to Israel, but nearly half of the Jews come from Arab countries and then there are the Arabs themselves! Certainly not Western. Officially, Israel is the last country in Asia. Israel has many influences-that is why it sometimes appears to be one or the other. Peres is the President (Poland) but Shlomo Amar (Morocco) is one of the Chief Rabbis. Israel doesn’t “try” to be diverse-it IS. Your portrayal of the country doesn’t always show this fact.

Aussie Dave Exposes Richard Silverstein

taken from KapoDickie - an Adventure in Jewish Self-Hatred

Little Dickie Campaigns for Hamas Terror

from the Israellycool.com blog:
August 27th, 2008
Silverstein on Hamas
Aussie Dave
On Richard Silverstein’s anti-Israel blog Tikun Olam (link not provided, since he loves getting traffic), “Kane” asks a simple question in the comments:
# On August 26th, 2008 at 11:15 amKane said:
Richard,
I would be interested in hearing what you think of what Orgo said (Orgo had commented that there is no evidence connecting Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh to any terror attacks -ed.) Do you think Haniyeh is a terrorist or connected to terror attacks?
Thanks.
Silverstein responds:
# On August 26th, 2008 at 12:44 pmRichard Silverstein said:
@Kane: Haniyeh is less connected to terror attacks than Yitzchak Shamir was. Let me make clear that I’m no friend of Hamas. I wish there were another authentic, popular grassroots Palestinian political movement instead of it. I don’t like their politics or their willingness to embrace armed violent resistance. That being said, they ARE an authentic, grassroots popular movement. Until some other group can beat them in a legitimate election, they should be recognized as a legitimate government.
So there you have it, folks. Silverstein is clearly stating:
1. The leader of Hamas is less connected to terrorism than was a former Prime Minister of Israel.
2. Hamas engages in “resistance”, not terrorism.
See also:
Jane Says: April 6th, 2008 at 7:06 pm
Little Dickie Kapostein, the real name for Richard Silverstein, is a fanatic anti-Semite and Neo-Nazi who seeks Israel’s annihilation and a new Holocaust. The semi-literate Silverstein would like to be the next Jewish Neo-Nazi after Norman Finkelstein crashed and burned. There has never been an act of Arab savagery against Jews he does not justify, nor an act of Jewish self-defense that he supports. His blog is little more than his exercise in political masturbation, trying to draw attention to himself. He has been unemployed for years.

Pipes exposes Silverstein’s lies

taken from KapoDickie - an Adventure in Jewish Self-Hatred

Dickie gets Undiapered by Daniel Pipes

Pipes exposes Silverstein’s lies:
http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/2008/06/richard-silverstein-shoots-himself-in-the.html


Richard Silverstein Shoots Himself in the Foot
by Daniel PipesFri, 6 Jun 2008

I count 16 attacks on me penned by one Richard Silverstein during the past four years, or one every three months; is it fair to say that this leftist is obsessed with me? I make a habit of ignoring him, but his latest screed in London's Guardian, "Uninvited Guests," contains not one but two errors, so here follow my corrections.
(1) Silverstein writes that Tariq Ramadan's visa to teach at Notre Dame "was revoked in part because Daniel Pipes and other neocons lied, claiming Ramadan was a supporter of Islamic terror."
Reply: On Ramadan being "a supporter of Islamic terror": Sorry Silverstein, but the Department of Homeland Security established that he donated funds to the "Comité de Bienfaisance et Secours aux Palestiniens" and the "Association de Secours Palestinien." Further, Ramadan acknowledges having donated funds "totaling approximately $900 to a Swiss Palestinian-support group that is now on the American blacklist."
On the matter of my role in Tariq Ramadan's exclusion from the United States, Ramadan himself cannot make up his own mind on this subject, having both blamed me and absolved me of responsibility.
But I have been unequivocal and consistent on this topic, pointing out that I had no connection to the Ramadan exclusion. See "Tariq Ramadan, the Chicago Tribune, and Me," where I explain how it was Ramadan's blaming me for his exclusion, actually, that got me to write about him, not the other way around.
If Silverstein thinks this too a lie, I challenge him to document what my role in the exclusion was. (Incidentally, this is not the first challenge my colleagues and I have proposed to Silverstein; in August 2007, in "Richard Silverstein's Fictions about Campus Watch, Paula Stern, and Nadia Abu El-Haj," we asked him to show just how Campus Watch got Paula Stern, a Barnard Collegea petition to deny tenure to Barnard anthropologist Nadia Abu El-Haj. Over a year later, we have yet to receive his documentation.) alumna, to circulate


Richard Silverstein.
(2) Silverstein writes about Rashid Khalidi that he was "similarly smeared while he was under consideration for an endowed chair at Princeton and also fired from teaching a course to New York public school teachers about the Middle East, because of false charges made by Daniel Pipes of supporting Arab radicalism."
Reply: As always, I am delighted to be ascribed the power to deny a so-called professor like Khalidi positions at Princeton University and the New York City Department of Education. Thank you, Silverstein.
But how amusing that Silverstein should deny Khalidi's support for Arab radicalism. The best proof was his having served as a spokesman for the Palestinian Liberation Organization a quarter century ago, when it was still on the U.S. State Department's list of terrorist organizations. That fact has been publicly known since Asaf Romirowsky and Jonathan Calt Harris wrote it up in 2004 at "Arafat Minion as Professor," and which reemerged recently with the focus on Khalidi's relationship to Barack Obama.
As for Khalidi's writings, they certainly strike me as "supporting Arab radicalism." To take one nearly at random: In a recent Nation article, "Palestine: Liberation Deferred," Khalidi demonstrates his usual apologetic attitude towards Palestinian "resistance" (i.e., terrorism) and callousness towards its Israeli victims:
Many Palestinians understandably cling to the legitimate right of any people under occupation to resist their oppressors. They see only the extensive, continuous violence directed by Israel against the Palestinians, much of it structural and integral to the maintenance of the occupation. They cannot understand that because of Israel's cloak of permanent victimhood, its massive violence remains either invisible or justified in the West, while every Israeli casualty seems to be mourned there with infinite sadness and is taken as another sign of the inherent barbarity of the Palestinians.
Comment: Who can take my critics seriously when they persist in getting simple facts wrong? Why do they so often shoot themselves in the foot this way? (June 6, 2008)

Rabbi Modechai Eliyahu Condems Reformianity

Rabbi Eliyahu: 'Reform synagogues reek of hell'
THE JERUSALEM POST
Nov. 19, 2007

Reform and Conservative synagogues reek of hell [Gehinom] and a Jew should not even come near their entrance, former Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel Mordechai Eliyahu said last week. 

"Once I was invited to be the sandak (godfather) at a brit in a three-story building," recounted
Eliyahu in his weekly flyer called Kol Tzofayich, which discusses various halachic issues.

"On the first story was a Reform temple, on the second floor was a Conservative synagogue and on the third floor was an Orthodox synagogue where I was invited. 

"I wondered how I would manage to pass by those two synagogues that reek of hell. I asked if there was a way of detouring those two entrances and I was told that there was a kitchen through which it was possible to reach the third floor. I announced that I would not go up any other way besides through the kitchen so as to avoid passing by those prohibited synagogues." 

In Kol Tzofayich, which also appears on the former chief rabbi's Internet site harav.org, Eliyahu uses anecdotes to teach practical Jewish law. The lesson that Eliyahu's faithful learn from this story is the rabbi's proscription against entering a non-Orthodox house of prayer. 

The Masorti (Conservative) Movement in Israel said in response that it would sue Eliyahu for slander. 

Yizhar Hess, director-general of the Masorti Movement, said in response that Eliyahu's comments were disappointing. 

"It is sad that a public figure of Eliyahu's stature makes such an irresponsible and callous comment that belittles millions of Jews across the world," he said. 

Rabbi Barry Schlesinger, head of the Rabbinical Assembly in Israel and rabbi of the Moreshet Avraham community in East Talpiot, Jerusalem, said Eliyahu's remarks will "stoke hatred and encourage defamation of Jewish communities both in Israel and abroad where millions of Jews learn Torah and perform acts of kindness."

Responding to the comments of B.BarNavi from www.richardsilverstein.com

Apparently Barnacle has the courage to attack when he wants to but not the courage to defend himself?
______________________________________________________________________________________
B.BarNavi said:
"Next time he shows up for a seder in this area, I B”N have got such words for him!"


Taming Korach:

Do you really want to confront me? You sound like the Asian Rambo defending his territory. I've been coming to Maryland since you were a child-I am not going to be impeded by someone like you.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
B.BarNavi said:
"Haw haw, he was made into a tag."

Taming Korach: 
Perhaps they don't tell you this at JTS but a tag תג is actually the crown that is written above Hebrew letters in a Sefer Torah. Not sure in what since you meant that. Thanks for the compliment!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tag_(Hebrew_writing)
_____________________________________________________________________________________
B.BarNavi said:
"you have clearly lost your Helek in the World to Come"

Taming Korach:
You haven't secured your own place amongst the Nation Of Israel and you have already determined my fate? When I was at your position, I was studying and listening furiously-not challenging people who know more than I did.
Ruth went with Israel at a time when it was not comfortable to do so. Orpah turned her back on the Jews because it was "going with the grain." Orpah's descendant Goliath fell to Ruth's descendant David:

Sotah 42b:

These four were born to Harafah in Gath; and they fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants.18 Who were they? — R. Hisda said: Saph, Madon, Goliath and Ishbi-benob.19 ‘And they fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants’, as it is written: And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clave unto her.20 R. Isaac said: The Holy One, blessed be He, spake, May the sons of the one who kissed21 come and fall by the hand of the sons of the one who clave.

(18) II Sam. XXI, 22.
(19) V. ibid. 18, 20 (translated a man of great stature), 19 and 16.
(20) Ruth I, 14.
(21) Goliath and his brothers were sons of Orpah who is identified with Naomi's daughter-in-law.

_____________________________________________________________________ 
On October 7th, 2008
B.BarNavi said: 
I’ve had the displeasure of knowing this man, Tzadok. He knows me as Baruch. 

Taming Korach: 

    Barnacle the last thing I remember you telling me was that you wish you could be me-you said it in front of everyone at the synagogue.   Apparently you took pleasure in knowing me at that moment.    I remember when I gave you factual information about Judaism and Israel and you just kind of stared in a daze like "huh."  If fact, you often have that kind of daze!
    Now, as a "conservative convert" you are posting comments on blogs attacking Israel, its lands, and people who are frantically trying to defend these lands (and dying to do so).    I think I made my point about your chosen affiliation.
_____________________________________________________________________
B.BarNavi said:
"Tell me, Tzadok (Sadducee),..."


Taming Korach:
    This is a very feeble attempt at a cheap shot. It is a great irony because in actuality, you are supporting the side of the צדוקים by arguing against Rabbinical Judaism. I am in hot water for defending it! You and Silverstein are the צדוקים, unfortunately.
_____________________________________________________________________
On October 7th, 2008
B.BarNavi said:


I hope our friend realizes that:


1. Oppressing a convert is an issur d’Oraita. No matter what strain the convert is from.
2. Sephardic minhag owes a lot to Arab/Muslim influence. As a Sephardi myself, I’m not sure he recognizes the irony in that.
3. Claiming “we are the true Jews!” has probably been more of a Litvish than a Sephardi thing. Also of note is that too many Sephardim are emulating the dominant Litvish Ashkenazic model, in that they are becoming religiously and politically RIGHT-WING (instead of liberal as he claims).

Taming Korach: 
Barnacle:
1. You are not a convert-you are not given aliyot at real synagogues so I am not the only one who thinks so. If you want to give me a lecture on what is forbidden in the Torah, why did you join a movement that says it is permissible to break Shabbat regularly? Sefardic Jews don't hate themselves.
2. You! Sefardic? Come here to Israel-Sefardic central and spout the leftist crap you are telling me and see how far you get. I hinted that to you once and you gave me one of your dazed stares. Why do you think I dislike Arabs? So stereotypical of leftists. All of the major halachic authorities were Mizrachi : from the Misha to Gemara to Rambam to Maran-all Jews follow Sephardic halacha.
3. What do you know about Litvush? Both of the Rabbanim who converted me are descended from the Vilna Gaon. I don't need someone like you to give me a lecture about Judaism. Sefaradim were and still are at the base of the right-wing in Israel. Who do you think the mass of Rav Kahane's supporters were? Boy, you are way, way off-you need some more years under your belt before you tangle with me...


Rav Ovadya שליט"א: Sefardic Tefilah most original

שו"ת יחווה דעת חלק ג סימן ו
שאלה: בטבריה עילית הוקם בית כנסת חדש לתושבי השכונה, כל המתפללים הם יוצאי צפון אפריקה, ורוב הצבור דורש להתפלל בנוסח הספרדי המקובל עלינו מדור דור, אלא שקבוצת צעירים רוצים להתפלל בנוסח אחיד הנהוג בצה"ל, הקרוב לנוסח אשכנז, ורוב הצבור מתנגד לכך. נא להורות לנו הלכה למעשה בנידון זה.


תשובה: בהגהות מיימוני (בסדר תפלות כל השנה אות ח') כתב בזו הלשון: איתא בירושלמי עירובין (סוף פרק ג'): שלח להם רבי יוסי, אף על פי ששלחנו לכם סדר מועדות, כלומר תפלות המועדים, אל תשנו ממנהג אבותיכם נוחי נפש. והובא להלכה במגן אברהם (סימן ס"ח סק"א), ובחק יעקב (סימן תפ"ט ס"ק י"א), ובשו"ת שמש צדקה (חלק אורח חיים סימן כ"ג) ועוד. ולפי זה אין ספק שהצדק עם רוב הצבור הדורש להתפלל בנוסח הספרדי המקובל מדורי דורות, ואין להם לשנות מנוסח התפלה של אבותיהם, שעל זה נאמר אל תטוש תורת אמך. ובספר מעבר יבוק (בקונטרס שפתי צדק פרק ל"א) כתב: הנה לכל אחד משנים עשר שבטי ישראל יש חלון אחד ברקיע כפי בחינת נשמת שבטו, אשר דרכו נכנסת תפלתו, ולכן אין לשנות מטבע נוסח תפלתו ממה שלימדוהו אבותיו, שכל המשנה ידו על התחתונה, ואין ללמוד ממקצת בני הדור האחרון ששינו נוסח תפלתם, שאין ללמוד הלכה מפי בני אדם שלא הגיעו להוראה. וכבר אמרו בירושלמי, שלח להם רבי יוסי, אף על פי ששלחנו לכם סדר תפלות, אל תשנו ממנהג אבותיכם ע"כ. ודברי המעבר יבוק מיוסדים על אדני פז, בדברי רבינו האר"י ז"ל בשער הכוונות (דף נ' ע"ד) שכתב: בעיקר המנהגים בנוסח הברכות והתפלות וסדריהם, רבים השינויים בין מנהג ספרד ובין מנהג אשכנז וכיוצא בהם, וקבלה בידינו שיש ברקיע י"ב חלונות כנגד י"ב שבטי ישראל, וכל שבט ושבט עולה תפלתו דרך שער אחד המיוחד לו, והוא סוד שנים עשר שערים הנזכרים בסוף ספר יחזקאל, והנה אין ספק שאילו היה נוסח של תפלות כל השבטים שוה, לא היה צורך לי"ב שערים, אלא ודאי שמכיון שנוסח תפלותיהם שונה זה מזה, לכן צריך שער מיוחד לכל שבט ושבט, ולכן על כל אחד להחזיק בנוסח וסדר תפלתו כמנהג אבותיו, לא יטה מהם ימין ושמאל, ואם ישנה ממנהג אבותיו בשינוי הנוסח, או להקדים ברוך שאמר להודו, וכיוצא בזה, אין תפלתו עולה למעלה ע"כ. ומרן החיד"א בספר עבודת הקודש (קשר גודל סימן י"ב אות ט') כתב בזו הלשון: קבלנו מרבינו האר"י ז"ל, שבמנהגי שרשי התפלות ונוסחתם, אין לשנות מהמנהג הקדום, כי י"ב שערים ברקיע כנגד י"ב שבטים, ותפלת כל שבט עולה דרך שער המיוחד לאותו השבט, אבל תפלת נוסח הספרדים עולה בכל אחד משנים עשר שערים ע"כ. וכן הובא בשלמי צבור (דף ק"ח סק"ב). נמצא שלדעת רבינו האר"י, אף על פי שמותר לאשכנזים לשנות לנוסח ספרד, - ורבינו האר"י עצמו שהיה אשכנזי, עשה מעשה רב והתפלל בנוסח הספרדים, כמבואר בשער הכוונות, - מכל מקום אין לספרדים לשנות נוסחתם למנהג אשכנז. וכן מבואר עוד בשו"ת יוסף אומץ (סימן כ'). וכן כתב הגאון רבי חיים פלאג'י בשו"ת לב חיים חלק ב' (סימן ט'). וראה עוד בשו"ת חתם סופר (חלק או"ח סימן ט"ו). ובשו"ת מהר"ם שיק (חאו"ח סימן מ"ג). ובשו"ת דברי חיים מצאנז חלק ב' (חלק אורח חיים סימן י"ח) ע"ש. ובשו"ת לבושי מרדכי תליתאה (חלק אורח חיים סימן י'), נשאל אודות קהל מיוצאי ספרד שהיו נוהגים להתפלל בבית הכנסת המרכזי של העיר שנהגו להתפלל שם בנוסח אשכנז, ואחר כך נפרדו הספרדים והלכו להתפלל בבית המדרש בנוסח הספרדים וכמנהג אבותיהם, והרב מרא דאתרא לא היה נוח לו בזה, משום ברוב עם הדרת מלך, והשיב, שמכיון שהספרדים אינם רשאים לשנות ממנהג אבותיהם, צריך לאפשר לתת להם מקום להתפלל כמנהג אבותיהם, ואין בזה משום ברוב עם הדרת מלך, שאדרבה אם מתפללים בנוסחאות שונות בבית כנסת אחת, יש בזה משום לא תתגודדו ע"ש. ובשו"ת מהרש"ם חלק ג' (סימן קס"ב) תמך יסודות תשובתו על דברי המהרשד"ם (חלק אורח חיים סימן ל"ה), שנוסח הספרדים בתפלה הוא העיקר, וכתב, שלכן גם מי שמנהג אבותיו להתפלל בנוסח אשכנז, רשאי לשנות מנהגו להתפלל בנוסח ספרד שהוא הנוסח המשובח והצח, ושכן העלה הגאון מצאנז בשו"ת דברי חיים חלק ב' (חלק אורח חיים סימן ח') ע"ש. וידוע מעשה רב שהובא בספר צרור החיים (דף נ"ח ע"ד), שהגאון רבי נתן אדלר זצ"ל, היה מתפלל במנין שלו בפרנקפורט במבטא ספרדי, ובנוסח הספרדים, והזמין לשם כך מירושלים חכם אחד ספרדי, ולמד ממנו את המבטא הספרדי המדוייק והנכון. וכן כתב בספר דרך הנשר (דף מ"ה ע"א). והוסיף, שאותו חכם שלימד את הגאון רבי נתן אדלר להתפלל במבטא ספרדי, הוא הגאון רבי חיים מודעי, מחבר שו"ת חיים לעולם ע"ש. ובשו"ת מהר"ם שיק (חלק חשן משפט סימן כד) כתב, שאף על פי שכתב המגן אברהם (סימן ס"ח) שאין לשנות ממנהג אבותיו בתפלה, מכל מקום מי שנפשו חשקה להתפלל בנוסח ספרד הרשות בידו, ומעשים בכל יום שאנשים רבים החפצים להתפלל בנוסח האר"י, עושים להם מנין בפני עצמם, ואין מי שימחה בידם, שיש להם על מה שיסמוכו. ומצינו בחובת הלבבות שכתב, שלכל מצוה שאדם מוצא בנפשו חשק לעשותה, בודאי שיש לנשמתו שייכות לאותה מצוה ביותר, וכמו שנאמר מה' מצעדי גבר כוננו ודרכו יחפץ, ר"ל שהשי"ת נותן בנפשו החפץ למעשה הטוב ההוא כפי שרש נשמתו ע"ש. וראה עוד בשו"ת קרן לדוד (סימן י"ט), ובשו"ת מנחת אלעזר חלק א' (סימן י"א), ובשו"ת מהר"ם בריסק חלק ב' (סימן כ"ח), ובשו"ת זכרון יהודה גרינוואלד (חלק אורח חיים סימן ט"ו) ע"ש.

__________________________________________________________________
B.BarNavi:
Tigers do not change their stripes, and if he came from an ultra-conservative Virginian background, he’d find a home in the black-hat world.

Taming Korach:
Barnacle: Virginia is a little like the Dukes of Hazard but it's better than a self-hate symphony! The first settlement in the USA was in Virginia. Virginia has produced more presidents than any other state. Fairfax and Loudoun have the two highest per household incomes in the country. Can Maryland say that? With your black-hat comment: Again, you are absolutely desperate to categorize me, based on not knowing virtually any Torah-which confirms how stupid your teachers must have been! Most Sefardic Jews here follow Rav Ovadya שליט"א, whether they are black-hat or not-but you never bothered to check on that, eh? Your presumtuous comments suggest you are desperate to put me on the defensive, even though you have no factually correct knowledge.


B.BarNavi:
or mentally out of the Pennsyltucky of your background,...


Taming Korach:
My mother's family came to Philadelphia, the USA's first capital, in the 1740's. I'm not sure where you get off slighting me like this. I don't remember what ethnicity you are, but in any case it just shows I am dealing with a small and habitually petty individual. You are a waste of time...
____________________________________________________________________
from www.richardsilverstein.com:

1. On October 11th, 2008 at 5:26 pm
   B.BarNavi said:
   There’s a line between concern for your own people and being outright paranoid/hateful.
   And who said there was anything as “suicidal peace”? A rational being would see that aggressive territorial policies contribute more to Arab violence than anything else. A realist would know how to balance survival of the Jewish State with territorial dominance. That some people fail to see that is simply pathetic.
   
2. On October 11th, 2008 at 5:29 pm
   B.BarNavi said:
   Also, right-wing militaristic tendencies tend to run in Orthodox circles, but is by no means in the mainstream! Believe me, as someone who hangs out in Orthodox circles, this is FAR from the norm!
   

Taming Korach:
The Arabs will continue to reproduce quickly and so will Haredim להבדיל-other groups including people like Richard and B.Barnavi will be left in the cold-you aren't seeing this? Barnacle-have you even been to Israel? You make these decisive comments about a country you see to know nothing about!

Actual Dialogue between Richard Silverstein and The Anti-Self Defamation League

Justin White:

Subject: Pegler anti-semite?

    Message: Wikipedia also says: Pegler, a Catholic, was married to Julia Harpman Pegler, a onetime New York Daily News crime reporter who came from a Jewish family in Tennessee.  How do you like that? I had an orthodox conversion in Jerusalem. I could say things about the way Jews behave that are MANY times more acerbic than Mr. Pegler. Stop pretending you are innocent. When you act like an ass people will call you on it. Small towns are the only thing America has going for it.

Gmar Hatima Tova

__________________________________________________________________________
Richard Silverstein:

    I suppose it's that Orthodox conversion that allows you to act like a total boor to a fellow Jew. Good to know that despite being a convert you show just as much disdain for yr fellow Jews as yr fellow Orthodox Jews. It must've rubbed off on you during the conversion unless you were like that before you converted.

__________________________________________________________________________ 
Justin White:

Sorry, Rabbi Brenda

    I suppose it's being King Snot Conservative Reform Jew and "Rabbi Spinoza" that allows you to pretend you understand derech eretz? No, aside from all of that my friend I come from REAL USA (Virginia, went to UVA). Only after I studied at yeshiva did I realize how much my Hillel buddies hated Judaism because they were taught this from their parents. None of them have Jewish children now (but I'm "not allowed" to say this)? By the way-are you a four year old? Only four year-olds have tantrums (and spoiled Ashkenazim who write for leftist, anti-Jewish magazines who pretend to be "Jewish.") Some of us know Torah and we aren't going to be fooled by Rabbi Brenda and her post-Semitic hate rhetoric!

גמר חתימה טובה

if you can read Hebrew..

__________________________________________________________________________ 
Richard Silverstein:

    I'm not a Reform Jew you am ha-aretz. I have a lot better sense of derech eretz than you. I don't insult people who don't know me from Adam and unless they insult me first.

    I don't hate Judaism or Israel. I have a Bachelor of Hebrew Literature degree from a rabbinical seminary. I spent seven years studying for a PhD in Hebrew literature. I spent years raising funds for the Jewish community. God, I hope I didn't raise any funds for groups you're affiliated with. I know more about Judaism in my little finger than you do in yr entire body.

    Do please tell me the yeshiva you're associated with so I can note publicly for all my readers the level of tolerance encouraged by whoever your rebbe is.

__________________________________________________________________________ 
Justin White:

Seinfelder

    I am probably the strongest convert of my generation. I am an Israeli citizen for 8 years. I have an exemption from Hebrew from both Tel Aviv and Hebrew University and I studied physics at Hebrew U. I would imagine that you don't raise money for Orthodox Yeshivot in J-m because that is too Jewish for you. I have been studying ACTUAL Judaism for 15 years, so I doubt you know more than I do (I am glad to write to you in Hebrew as well). If you are writing for Rabbi Brenda's hate magazine, then I DOUBT you know any Judaism except for kiss Arab ass. Maybe you are an Arab? Do you expect me to leave a note for Rabbi Brenda's lost-sheep followers? To be crucified by Seinfeld Jews? BTW: I took Sefardic minhag-that is most of the difference you are seeing here. Any Sefaradim writing for you all (I mean ones that weren't kidnapped as kids)?

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Richard Silverstein:

    I told you I raised money for the Jewish community. You do understand that non-Orthodox do include the Orthodox in that definition, don't you?  It's only people like you who don't accord the same kavod to yr fellow non-Orthodox & read us out of the tribe. So yes, I raised money for many Orthodox institutions.

    What do you think the Jewish Theological Seminary teaches? Faux Judaism?  You're really a hoot. I'm going to be sharing yr nuggets of wisdom with the Conservative rabbis I know & even a few Orthodox as well. The latter will be truly chagrined to have to include a Jewish knucklehead like you among their ranks.

    BTW, because you're such a real shande fahr di yidn I'm gonna include your entire correspondence on my blog. You don't seem to care that you'll make your fellow Orthodox hate-mongers the laughingstock of the rest of the reasonable Jewish community. You'll actually make a good case study in how conversion draws into our ranks some of the worst quality of human being on earth. Not to mention that you embarrass your own Hebrew Univ. physics department with the hate you spew.

    I'd actually like you to continue writing & please intensify that hate, it comes across really well in the pages of my blog.

    BTW, only converts like you are so defensive that you feel the need to prove your Jewish 'manliness' by saying you can write to me in Hebrew, etc. It's not very persuasive but maybe it works for you in impressing others.

    And maybe you'd like to add a few examples of the Jewish behavior you've witnessed that would be so many times more acerbic than anything Pegler could offer up. That too would add to yr Jewish credibility.

Richard.

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Justin White:

Still Seinfelding-Still Smug

    Thanks for your smug response-please give me the address of your blog. I am proud to have a forum. By the way-what is yr? Is that the reform way of saying your? Happy to offer my "nuggets of wisdom" to Rabbi Brenda and the rest of the crew at Seinfeld.

    The "Conservative Movement" was the "Jewish Response" to the Reform Movement, just like your response to me is the heretic's response to Torah Judaism. That so-called Seminary is for sure Judianity-that don't believe that the Torah is of divine origin-so it says on a conservative "conversion."

    As for "shande fahr di yidn," I don't speak Amalek! The fact that you quote Germanic-Hebrew back to an Israeli convert basically sums up the differences between you and me, Richard.

Living in Israel, I don't have to tell you how much nonsense I have seen from Jews here. If I have to explain that to you, you are basically beyond repair-maybe Tikkun Magazine can fix you.

A Jew who doesn't know Hebrew is considered to be illiterate. Does that make you an embarrassment (I have been plugging away since 1996, sometimes on my own), or me the embarrassment for having been diligent.

    It is you and Tikkun and Rabbi Brenda and the "Reform" movement that spews hate, Richard. No worry, statistically, most Jews will be living in Israel in the future-US Jews having succumb to assimilation spear-headed by the same organizations you smugly champion.

    Lastly, one of my Rabbanim was stabbed near the Damascus Gate in the past year. Only lost Jews would champion the enemies of the Jewish People and then pretend they are making a "Tikkun." I am sure you have a way to rationalize this....

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Richard Silverstein:

    You claim to be a physicist. I think you should be able to do research & figure out how to find my blog. Unfortunately, you haven't yet figured out that if you send Hebrew characters in plain text format that your reader will not be able to read them. I hope you're a better at physics than sending e mail.

The Conservative movement is as legitimate a Jewish movement as Orthodoxy or any other and has many more adherents than Orthodoxy. Unfortunately, Jews have voted w. their feet & you guys lost out.

    Thanks for calling me a heretic, a term I'm proud to wear coming from the likes of you. Your kind excommunicated Spinoza as well. I am a proud Jew whether you like it or not.

    Yiddish is not Germanic-Hebrew. I can't believe how ignorant you are. It was the language of the six million killed in the Holocaust & the language of most of yr fellow Orthodox Jews before they made aliyah. Indeed, most Orthodox Jews still DO speak Yiddish. So insult Yiddish & insult yr own religious legacy.

    You've confused by blog, Tikun Olam, with Tikkun Magazine. Are you guilty of the same carelessness when you do physics?

    I am ABD in Comparative Literature with a major in Hebrew. I can't believe you would have the chutzpah to believe I'm not fluent in Hebrew.

    You're being rather obscure in yr comments about "Rabbi Brenda." One rule of satire which you seem to have missed is that it should be understandable to your audience.

    Keep the insults coming. They look good in my blog. You will go down in Jewish infamy as one of the most smug, mean-spirited converts ever to claim the mantle of Judaism.

Richard

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Justin White:

Get Things Straight

-I have no problem sending emails in Hebrew to Israel (with English mixed). Just with idiots like you there are problems.

-My father is actually Korean and mother is German-American (whoops you MESSED up). You are more inbred than I could ever be, and I see that by looking at your photo.

-I would prefer you post my complete email, because it takes me out of context.

-Thanks for the "airtime."

-I'll be back.

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Justin White:

Coming After People Like You Fast And Furious

Justin White: Making The World A Better Place But Not Using The Word "Tikkun" All Of The Time

    I'd like to obviously respond to a few things on Rabbi Brenda's blog. First of all, I don't believe in this word "orthodox" when it comes to Judaism. It is a Greek work, not Hebrew (Richard should know this). Instead of saying Torah or Judaism, people like Lerner and Silverstein (and Rabbi Brenda-the mascot of the "reform" "movement"), cleverly dub post-Semitic self-hate "Judaism" "reform " or "conservative." I resent being called "Orthodox right-wing" by someone who doesn't know me personally. I like the militant part.  Do you really think that Ruth would espouse the views you do concerning Judaism and our Arab neighbors (let's leave them out of this)? She would be coming after people like you fast and furious (for sure better than I). Ruth was from Moav-a MIZRACHIT or Jew from the Middle-East. That is in contrast to people like Richard who are basically Europeans pretending to have some connection to the Judaism (when they aren't helping are enemies).

    Your comments about conversion to Judaism are cliche. The fact of the matter is that American Jewry has an intermarriage rate of over 50%. Who are the marrying? Non-Jews. What do they do? They have phony reform or conservative "conversions," where they can still eat pork and not keep Shabbat. If anything, Chabad (with whom I am not affiliated) has tried to stem the tide of intermarriage by teaching the Jew and non-Jewish spouse (or convert) ACTUAL Judaism.

    Mr. Silverstein is correct about my lack of humility. This is something for me to consider in these days of soul-searching. I hope Rabbi Brenda's protege is doing the same. A Good Year To All!

-from the Israeli-American militant Korean-Pennsylvania Dutch red-neck convert to Judaism!

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Richard Silverstein:

    The idiot dear boy is you who doesn't know how to send an e mail in html format.

    And thanks for pointing out the racism is judging whether I am "inbred" (whatever the hell that means) from my picture. That's certainly worthy of Hitler's racialism. This is gonna look great tonight on my blog in a new post.

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Justin White:

Sneaky Kapo

Richard Silverstein: Sneaky Kapo

    Richard-must we hear your moronic commentaries? A true European control freak you are! It would be better if you just posted my letters. In fact, if you want to make TIKKUN-just make it MY blog! It is like Rashi gone horribly wrong.

    You are the first person EVER to compare me to Hitler (lehavdil). I guess that shows what Berkley does to a Jewish mind (and maybe a lot of drugs?) I didn't strip you of being Jewish-you did it to yourself Richard. You are a shanda to yourself! By the way-I know people here who are studying Yiddish academically and individually-it is FOR SURE German-Hebrew-in fact German of the Middle Ages (get your facts straight Ashka-boy). I was in Beni Barak for Rosh Hashana. Those Yiddish speaking people I saw there wouldn't agree with what you say and you probably hate them for who they are-don't pretend to be so philo-Jewish Richard. This is a glowing sign of your shallowness-a result of having had a bankrupt Jewish education like so many of your fellow Arab-hugging self-hating confused "reformers."

    You post monsters like Daniel Barenboim and you try to label be as "anti-Semitic?" No one loves Semitism more than I do. You don't know what Semitism is, my silver-haired adversary. I have been involved with Jews of Arab countries from day one. Only KAPOS like you try to be sneaky and turn the guilt around. Richard Silverstein-the post-Semite! (I'm sure you don't have the guts to post this paragraph.)

    You consider me an extremist because you are so far from your own religion. Would you consider Samuel an extremist for killing the King of Amalek? Would you consider Moses an extremist for having killed an Egyptian (who attacked a Jew)? It is the "enlightened" "Jew" like yourself who would. Why don't you think about that on Yom Kippur? Your soul needs whiting.

PS: I am not a baal-tsuvah. A baal-tsuvah is someone who was born to a Jewish mother and then became observant. A convert is a convert. I am a convert to Judaism. If you became observant, Richard, you would be a baal-tsuvah. Who is the ignoramus?

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Richard Silverstein:

    Oh when you claim that I'm inbred and not Jewish that's VERY PERSONAL. Not

to mention all the other disgusting things you said.

    As for yr warning to "be careful," if that was even an intimation of a

threat you don't scare me.

-----Original Message-----

From: Justin White [mailto:eathummus@yahoo.com]

Sent: Tuesday, October 07, 2008 3:34 AM

To: Richard

Subject: be careful

    You don't have to make this so personal. Comments like "twisted human being like Justin White" are unacceptable.

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Justin White:

The Anti-Self Defamation League is Born
     No threat..For someone who is not scared you sure behave that way. You made your blog "Red-Neck Baal-Tseuvah" when I am nether a red-neck not a hozer b-tsuvah you were wrong on both counts even when trying to slander me. When you mock a convert you are breaking 2 Torah mitzvot (love your fellow Jew AND love the convert). The fact that you would call a convert an anti-Semite as well as (to no shame) compare to a Nazi (which you Leftists LOVE to do) shows what level you are on Jewishly. I was foolish to think someone like you would be capable of more. Anyhow, I agreed to share my thoughts, even though you have taken me out of context. However, I have limits for the tar and feathering I am willing to take. Your comments are your business, but when you accuse me of being in line with people who murdered Jews-that is really beyond the pale. I suggest you choose a different way expressing yourself. In any case you have inspired me to found The Anti-Self-Defamation League-seriously. Have an easy fast! I wish the best to you and all around you...

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Richard Silverstein:

    When you deny a fellow Jew membership in the Jewish people you are breaking some pretty fundamental mitzvot. I cannot love a convert who hates me as a Jew. I am not mocking you. I am allowing you to speak in yr own words.  Your own words mock you to anyone who has a reasonable perspective on these issues.

    Any Orthodox Jew who speaks with hatred about all non-Orthodox Jews IS by definition an anti-Semite. If you hate the majority of the Jewish people, then you hate Jews. No other way to look at it I'm afraid.

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Justin White:

Shine On

    I don't HATE anyone. You are not being honest. You are taking clips of what I said and then giving me your secular "Rashi" commentary to tar and feather me.  An anti-Semite is one who is again Semitism. Websters says:

1 : of, relating to, or constituting a subfamily of the Afro-Asiatic language family that includes Hebrew, Aramaic, Arabic, and Amharic

    I have studied Hebrew, Aramaic, and Arabic. I know Hebrew fluently. I LOVE Semitism. I am not against Semitism, I am very much for it. I am not against non-Orthodox Jews because I don't think there is more than one kind of Jew. There is only Torah Judaism. I have stated that before, so what you are saying in this instance has no validity.

    If you take a diamond and throw it into a pile on manure or in a sewer for a thousand years, someone will still want that diamond. It retains its value. A Jew is a diamond. You, Richard, are a dirty diamond. Use this special time of year to sparkle once again. Shine on you crazy diamond!

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Richard Silverstein:

    You're a liar. He knows you. You know him. If you claim you don't know the rabbis whose initials BarNavi mentions then you're an even worse liar than I thought. And if I ever find out which rabbis are mentioned I'll forward yr e mails to them personally.

    You haven't had a constructive thing to say since you published your first comment in my blog.

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Justin White:

We Are The Champions

    Gee honey-if those people knew me, wouldn't they ALREADY have my email? I should charge you for having spiced up your pathetic blog-that is your holiday present. BarNavi means son of a prophet. That guy has no prophetic heritage from what I read. Why didn't you publish my responses Richard? I don't associate with people like that, as you could guess. Don't worry about yourself though, Richard-I've got your number-literally. Based on your sound of desperation and your unwillingness to actually speak to me, I'll assume I've won this blog.

Justin White-Jerusalem, Israel

President of the Anti-Self-Defamation League

P.S. I converted in Israel with a Haredi beit din-USA's opinion not really relevant.

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