response to Giyus Banos

Maybe if we eased up a little regarding the boys we could gain some leverage to save the girls

 

 

BSD

Rabbi ...,

A darhoibeneh Chamisha Asar beShvat,

I agree we must look inward.

I think we ought start by identifying the somewhat pervasive rot in the frum/chareidi world that's at the root of the government crusade against the girls. The government couldn't possibly dare to embark on this persecutory Giyus Banos program without hefty Chareidi betrayal from within.

1 

I'm referring to the elevation of power-grabs from an art form to an addiction, by some frum askonim. 

2. 

Not to mention the pervasive worship of government money.

3.

Then you have the unhinged, "blind as a bat," Kool-Aid devotionalism - to various intrepid "frum" party hacks, political climbers who unabashedly deny the very existence of Giyus Banos, because it's only being perpetrated against girls other than "unzereh..." (And then they have the azus to brand that cultism as "Daas Torah." )

4.

Then you have frum people out there being bodaik the tzitzis of every girl arrested, and some more satanic ones even being mozti la'az on the incarcerated and persecuted girls*, claiming that they're not "frum." (My father reminded me that "FRUM" sometimes stands for "Fill mit Rishus, U'vainig Mitzvos.")

[*Sounds similar to what Reb Elchonon Wasserman speaks about in Kovetz HeOros, Agada 10, regarding Zera Amalek, see there.]

5. Then you have a large crowd of useful idiots in the frum world who serve as consumers of this nonsense, perhaps out of convenience.

6. Compound that with the common cowardice of many functionaries/Rabbonim, and others, who see the truth - but are too afraid or apathetic to speak out when girls are being abused in the Army, in jail, in court, and by frum slanderers.

So is it a surprise?

So if we deal with that, I think we're well taken care of.

PS Btw, the aforementioned corruptiles eased up on the boys long ago; they beat you to the idea. It's just that they didn't intend to help the girls either - having abandoned them too ... in favor of the finer things in life...

THIS is, in part, what I meant when I mentioned to you, a few years ago, that one thing that scares me more than an Israeli government filled with Chilonim is an Israeli government filled with Chareidim...

I do agree that broader Israeli society needs to see frum people caring about people other than themselves. I think the dealing w/ the aforementioned issues will address that, in part.

We as individuals need to set an example by not emulating the aforementioned.

Marie Yovanovitch: These are turbulent times. But we will persist and prevail.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/02/06/marie-yovanovitch-ukraine-ambassador-american-institutions-need-us/

When civil servants in the current administration saw senior officials taking actions they considered deeply wrong in regard to the nation of Ukraine, they refused to take part. When Congress asked us to testify about those activities, my colleagues and I did not hesitate, even in the face of administration efforts to silence us.

 

'Proud' Retired General Responds to Lindsey Graham's Vindman Attack: 'We Thought You Guys Were Rock Stars…Where Are You Now?'

https://www.newsweek.com/retired-general-responds-lindsey-graham-alexander-vindman-attack-rock-star-1486644

Retired Brigadier General Peter Zwack was responding to Graham's appearance on CBS' Face the Nation show Sunday, in which the South Carolina senator said Vindman's removal was "justified" and suggested the NSC staffer could no longer "be effective" in his role. Vindman was a key witness in Trump's impeachment and detailed alleged wrongdoing by the president.

Zwack told CNN on Monday that Graham's argument was "ridiculous" and described Vindman—who he once supervised—and other NSC staff who testified as "great Americans." As a "proud" retired member of the intelligence community, Zwack joked that he is "a card-carrying member of the deep state."

 

Sheldon, Miriam Adelson to spend $100 million for Trump re-election bid

https://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Sheldon-Miriam-Adelson-to-spend-100-million-for-Trump-re-election-bid-617187

 The Guardian on Monday quoted three Republican fundraisers it did not name as saying that the couple, known for their generosity to Republicans, pro-Israel causes and medical research, was ready to spend nearly the same amount, $124 million, as they did in the 2016 cycle. One of the Guardian’s sources said it could reach $200 million.

 

In New Hampshire, Democratic Voters Are Paralyzed by Fear of Making the Wrong Choice

https://time.com/5781797/new-hampshire-democratic-primary/

 If Sanders wins here, will he be unstoppable? And if so, then what? The party mandarins are sure he’s a disaster in the making, a recipe for re-electing Trump—that American voters will never go for a 78-year-old democratic socialist with an expensive, disruptive agenda. That, in the words of the celebrity consultant James Carville, who’s been stumping in New Hampshire for the long-shot moderate Michael Bennet, “we don’t have time for left-wing fantasies in this country.”

It’s a weird moment for a party that for three years has poured its energy into fighting Trump at every turn. Suddenly, the Democrats seem gripped by a low-grade panic, confronting the reality of a difficult primary with no consensus to be had. Somehow, up against a president they regard as a joke, a failure and a threat to the republic, they’re all flogging unity while running in different directions. A field that began with an embarrassment of riches—a record-setting 25 major candidates, including many truly big-time resumes—is now down to this odd lot of flawed hopefuls. Partisans find themselves seized by the paralyzing fear of making the wrong choice—or the sense that the right one doesn’t exist.

Alexander Vindman Deserves Better

Why are there few Torah giants today? Rabbi Sternbuch explains

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/275845

Edah Haharedit Rabbinical Court Judge Rabbi Moshe Sternbuch addressed in his lesson the reason for the small number of great Torah scholars in our generation, attributing this phenomenon to the absence of continuous diligence in Torah study.

 

"I heard from the great Rabbi Isser Zalman Meltzer that the world is wondering and asking why it is that our portion has worsened in that Torah giants don’t emerge from among our ranks as they did from the students of the Volozhin Yeshiva,” he said in a lesson delivered to students in Modi'in Illit, according the the haredi website JDN.

Making A Historical Parallel To Trump’s Impeachment Revenge Tour | Deadline | MSNBC

CNN's John Avlon: I've got bad news for Susan Collins

Judge Jeanine's message for Mitt Romney

Trump Vindictiveness Sends Chilling Message To U.S. Officials | Rachel Maddow | MSNBC

Hunter Biden is a nepotistic slouch compared to Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner

https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/ej-montini/2020/01/28/hunter-biden-slouch-compared-ivanka-trump-and-jared-kushner/4594904002/

Opinion: When it comes to using a family connection to rake in the dough, Biden is a sad and sorry slacker compared to the president’s daughter and son-in-law.

 

Moral equivalence and Donald Trump

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2016/09/10/moral-equivalence-and-donald-trump/

It was Kirkpatrick who in 1985 wrote an essay revered on the right called, “The Myth of Moral Equivalence.

To encourage more conservatives to speak out, I offer a few excerpts from Kirkpatrick’s essay:

“To destroy a society it is first necessary to delegitimize its basic institutions so as to detach the identifications and affections of its citizens from the institutions and authorities of the society marked for destruction.”

“An alliance among democracies is based on shared ideals. The process of delegitimization is, therefore, an absolutely ideal instrument for undermining an alliance, as well as for undermining a government. The NATO alliance among democracies simply cannot survive a widespread conviction among its members that there is no difference between the superpowers. It is not necessary to demonstrate that the Soviet Union is flawed, or deplorable. To destroy the alliance, it is only necessary to deprive the citizens of democratic societies of a sense of shared moral purpose which underlies common identifications and common efforts.”

 

Aharon Ramati, suspected cult leader, insists he 'didn't hold anyone by force'

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/275799

 In an interview with Kikar Hashabbat, Ramati discussed both the money laundering charge, as well as the charge that he ran a cult.

"There is a G-d in the world, and He's in charge," Ramati said. "Every idiot understands that everything happening right now is far from normal. Now, all of a sudden, they remembered something from five years ago, when all the others involved have long since been tried."

He added that "it's clear to everyone" that he is being persecuted.