Female haredi activists to haredi factions: Allow us to run, or we'll boycott

YNET   A large number of haredi women are demanding that the political parties representing their sector allow women on their electoral lists for the first time in Israel's history.

The struggle began on Facebook – under the slogan "no votes without representation", around 3,000 members of the social network have called for women to boycott the haredi factions in their current formulation.

The feminist campaign was ramped up Friday morning by an open letter from a prominent public action group to the leaders of Shas and United Torah Judaism that formally outlined demands. [...]

Some haredi women are active in the political arena, but not as MKs. Menachem Moses of United Torah Judaism has a female haredi aide, and even President Reuven Rivlin has a female haredi bureau chief – Rivka Ravitz, widow of the late MK Avraham Ravitz.

Will female MKs from the haredi sector join them in March? Time will tell. Meanwhile, Shas and United Torah Judaism refused to react to the open letter.

================================
"A woman should not dare to approach a secular party"
bhol

Renowned educator Rabbi Mordechai Blau, a senior at Yahadut Hatorah, declares today (Sunday) that "Every woman who will approach a party other than those led by Gedolei Yisrael - will be divorced without a ketuba and her children will not be accepted to educational institutions, as well as to purchase any product from, and will be ordered to remove her children from institutions ". [...]

Frum Follies' lack of integrity in his slanderous claims against me

Frum Follies seems to have no more real issues to write about and has started attacking me with make-believe charges that arouse his groupies  like sharks smelling blood. It is not enough that he makes up lies in the Meisels case - as I have documented. It seems now that he is attacking me in retaliation for exposing his lies. lies 1   lies 2  lies 3

Yesterday he ran a post that falsely claimed that “Only-a-Hug” Eidensohn Christens Meisels a “Respected Rabbi”    I did not say that Meisels was guilty only of a hug and I didn't christen Meisels a respected rabbi. I said that despite the charges in the lawsuit that Meisels was running the seminaries solely to provide girls for his sexual appetites it seemed that he was only guilty of inexcusable hugs. The word "only" was clearly indicating that relative to the in initial charges the reality was much less. I clearly and repeated have said that Meisels misdeeds required that he be removed from the seminaries and educational activities. Lopin himself stated elsewhere on his blog that there was no such thing as "only a hug" for an Orthodox Jew - and yet said in this post that it was question as to whether I was saying it was only a hug or it an inexcusable hug. The answer was obvious to him - but it served the purpose of  inciting his readers to make derogatory comments about me - which is clearly reason why he wrote it.

I didn't "christen Meisels a respected Rabbi" - I stated the obvious that when he committed his crimes he was a respected rabbi. I nowhere stated that he is a respected rabbi now - I challenged him to produce evidence for such a claim - which he hasn't.

Today he is back with a claim that since I moderate all comments that maybe I approve of a comment which encourages harassment of witnesses! Stop the Witness Intimidation by Meisels Defenders    The comment that appears on my blog simply made a one line suggestion that if the anonymous plaintiffs in the lawsuit against Meisels are  found out to be liars their names should be exposed. I of course agree with the standard procedure of not publicizing the names of victims and witnesses. Furthermore I approve many comments which I don't agree with - such as the infantile slander from Truthseeker but this wasn't an outrageous comment. The comment wasn't a call to action of vigilantes to determine the validity of the lawsuit. it wasn't a call for a lynch mob to uncover the identity of victims and witnesses to silence them. It was simply a suggestion that if the lawsuit is judged by the court to be false  - that the plaintiffs names should be exposed.   Again the only justification for Lopin's making a post out of it was to slander me - not to discuss issues or protect anyone.

In both cases - despite my protests to him about the slanderous nature of these posts  and directly explaining why the posts are false - he still hasn't removed them. What slander will he figure out next. 

It is also interesting to note that there are no objections against what he is doing by fellow abuse activists such as Rabbi Yosef Blau, David Morris or Harry Maryles.  In fact the Chicago activist Dorron Katzin selected both the "only a hug" post and the "intimidation" post to distribute to his private group of abuse activists - without presenting any of my posts explaining my side of the story. It is clear that they have decided that I am a pariah for supporting the IBD beis din's activities in the Meisels scandal. It seems that slander and distorting the truth - in the name of "protecting all alleged abusive victims" - is no vice.

Chabad of California to pay for misusing federal funds

Sacramento Bee    A federal judge in Sacramento ruled late Tuesday that the California branch of one of the world’s largest Jewish religious organizations misappropriated grant funds and now must pay $844,985 in damages and penalties.

U.S. District Judge Morrison C. England Jr. found that Chabad of California violated the federal False Claims Act with bogus statements and certifications in connection with money it obtained through the Urban Areas Security Initiative: Nonprofit Security Grant Program, which provides funding for security upgrades to eligible nonprofits.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security program is administered here through the California Emergency Management Agency.

In a 21-page order, England found that Chabad knowingly failed to comply with grant requirements and falsely assured the government that it had written procedures to regulate the use of the funds.[...]

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article4404342.html#storylink=cpy

“Rabbi Cunin made it clear that the absence of policies was not an oversight” and “conceded that he never planned to safeguard the grant advances and ensure that funds so received were used only to pay authorized grant costs,” England said.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article4404342.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article4404342.html#storylink=cpy

Cunin “treated the grant advances as if they were gifts to Chabad that, once paid by Cal EMA, were ‘no longer the business of the government,’” England said, quoting the rabbi’s deposition testimony. “(Cunin’s) cavalier attitude shows, at minimum, a reckless disregard.” [...]

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article4404342.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article4404342.html#storylink=cpy

The whistleblowers, Aria Kozak and his wife, Donna Kozak, of Santa Monica, through their company, Elite Interactive Solutions, installed state-of-the-art video surveillance equipment in several Chabad of California facilities, but were not paid for the work despite repeated requests, according to Hirst. [...]

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article4404342.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article4404342.html#storylink=cpy

U.S. District Judge Morrison C. England Jr. found that Chabad of California violated the federal False Claims Act with bogus statements and certifications in connection with money it obtained through the Urban Areas Security Initiative: Nonprofit Security Grant Program, which provides funding for security upgrades to eligible nonprofits.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article4404342.html#storylink=cpy

 

Seminary Recommendation: Yad Aharon signed by Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch,Rav Eichenstein and Rav Asher Weiss

More Frum Follies lies and distortions - this time regarding my view of Meisels

We have recently witnessed a series of blatant lies from Frum Follies regarding the Meisels scandal. See Dynamic of lynch mob mentality regarding abuse

It is important to note that despite Lopin's transgressions of normal standards of honest reporting and discussion - not one of his fellow advocates - has criticized his blatant lies or even acknowledged them. It seems that as long as an  advocate attacks people whose views differ from that of the advocates - it is considered legitimate.

Lie 1)  He has claimed that Rabbi Kahane and Rebbezin Ullman have been demoted by the joint beis din.

 Truth: The members of the joint beis din told me that "his statement is a lie". That they made no ruling on demoting either of them nor did they find evidence that either had done anything deserving demotion.

See Psak of Joint Beis Din

Lie 2) He claimed that Adina Cohen who wrote a strong letter defending Meisels was currently a madricha for Rabbi Kahane at Chedvas seminary. That her employment by Rabbi Kahane's showed his disregard for the well being of his students andthe incompetence of the IBD for allowing it. That this employment showed that support was still strong at the seminaries for Meisel and thus contrary to the ruling of the joint beis din - Meisels still continued to have strong support there. Therefore the seminaries were obviously unsafe - contrary to the ruling of the joint beis din.

Truth: In fact Adina Cohen is not currently a madricha of for Rabbi Kahane's seminary and never was. She is in fact not presently employed by any of the 4 seminaries. She WAS a madricha at Binas seminary - but again she is no longer working there but lives in Baltimore. Thus her letter writing activity shows nothing about the unsafeness of the seminaries or that the joint beis din is incompetent.

 Blog Post about Frum Follies and Adina Cohen

Lie 3)  He just wrote a post falsely titled "Only-a-Hug" Eidensohn Christens Meisels a "Respected Rabbi".

Truth :I did not "christen" Meisels a respected rabbi - he was in fact a widely respected rabbi when he committed his crime. That is all I said. However he is no longer a respected rabbi and I challenge Lopin to show evidence for his statement indicating that I consider that he is currently a respected rabbi.  Furthermore I didn't say his crime was insignificant being "only a hug".

I was contrasting what the CBD had claimed as a massive sex scandal with the rape of 40 girls with what the evidence at present shows that his crime was an inexcusable hug. The word "only" was to show in contrast to a massive sex scandal where the seminaries sole purpose was to provide for Meisels sexual satisfaction - his actual crime was much less significant. Not that it was insignificant. This is the actual quote.

Now that the Seminary scandal is winding down or rather unraveling from a story of a massive sex scandal where a respected rabbi was accused in federal court of  running four seminaries for the sole purpose of  having girls available for his sexual satisfaction to a growing realization that it was only an inexcusable hug given by a respected rabbi to a student  after which he was promptly kicked out by the staff and he readily acknowledged his misdeed in front of beis din. Headlines of seminaries being run as houses of prostitution has become nothing more than  an inappropriate hug. 

Thus Lopin deliberately cherry picked my words - taking them out of clear context to make a false statement about my beliefs. This is the excerpt from the post.

 “Only-a-Hug” Eidensohn Christens Meisels a “Respected Rabbi”

Posted on 12/09/2014 by Yerachmiel Lopin

“It was only an inexcusable hug given by a respected rabbi to a student,” writes Rabbi Daniel Eidensohn on his blog in discussing the misconduct of Elimelech Meisels. Was it “only” or inexcusable? He is trying to have it both ways. Yes he was kicked out but if people believe it was only a hug he may be able to eventually stage a comeback claiming therapy and teshuvah (repentance). In fact it was much more than a hug. [...]

Daniel Eidensohn, please admit that Mr. Meisels is a disgraced sexual assailant guilty of much, much more than a hug. He is a serial sexual predator, not a “respected rabbi.”

Lopin is fully aware that a hug in the Orthodox world is very serious and that any educator who hugged females students would be automatically fired and never be allowed into chinuch again.  He in fact stated on his blog that in the frum world there is no such thing as "just a hug" for an Orthodox Jew. Yet he deceitfully pretends that he is genuinely puzzled what I might mean.

He compounds his deceit by pretending that even after Meisels has been shown to have committed serious sexual transgressions that I fully respect Meisels as a Rabbi. He knows that is a lie - and yet he states it anyway.

It is obvious that Lopin is stooping to disgusting smear tactics  in order to discredit me as well as my views - as well as others involved in the Meisels scandal.

Ricki Lake Interviews Michoel and Chava about their "Unconventional" Orthodox Jewish Marriage

The Lubavitcher Rebbe Discussing Mothers and Children

Visit Jewish.TV for more Jewish videos.
Help Beth

Part of the transcript: "It is the mother who carries the child for nine months with all the pain involved the entire development and growth....is dependent on the mother's exertion. Therefore, by common sense - even if the child were not fully dependent on the mother for the first several years of life - the child's very existence, its development in the womb and its birth depended completely on the mother.... Common sense dictates that this is reason for the mother's nationality to determine the child's. So a group of men come along - and what is mire bizarre, some women - and have decided that they'll rearrange the natural order. They insist that the mother is irrelevant, but rather if the father is of a certain nationality, then this should determine the child's people. This defies logic, it defies common sense. The greatest injustice, the greatest crime that can be perpetrated upon a mother is to rob her of her child for whom she toiled through the pains of pregnancy and labor for nine months, with the sheer will to bring a child into the world. Now a few people come along and say: "No! Why should it be this way? We will gather a committee and decide this by vote. And with the committee's vote we will change the nature of another couple's child." It is unheard of! This is not a religious issue - although it is certainly fundamental to Judaism - it affects even those who, for whatever reason, are not involved in Judaism or who are non-Jewish, belonging to a different nation. When people are convening or organizing to "decide" to what People a child will belong - all the women of the entire world should raise an outcry - and certainly they eventually will - to categorically reject such a possibility."

Further discourse:
http://www.chabad.org/therebbe/livingtorah/player_cdo/aid/355453/jewish/The-Jewish-Woman-Part-1.htm

http://www.chabad.org/therebbe/livingtorah/player_cdo/aid/355453/jewish/The-Jewish-Woman-Part-2.htm

Schlesinger Twins: Who is Judge Konstanze Thau?

Help Beth   Excerpts 

Thau's Involvement in the case of the Schlesinger Twins

The Austrian newspaper, Heute, reported back in 2013: "This newspaper can now reveal the findings of our research: For months a high court judge (name known) has intervened on the side of the father (the high court judge is a good friend of the ex-husband)."

In fact, according to this post, "judge Konstanze Thau (who has no legal position in the case) was a family friend of Schlesinger's, and was advising him as admitted by Schlesinger in court and documented in the court transcripts."

Back in 2013, an investigation was lodged to investigate her involvement in the case although it is not clear whether any investigation was actually carried out or left to fade away. The article reads: 'Lawyer Dr Helmut Krenn said the case has been suspended while the court investigates whether the judge, Susanne Goettlicher, acted improperly by allowing another judge, Konstanze Thau, to intervene in the case. Dr Krenn said: “I applied to transfer the case to another court because of the intervention.”'

Judge Thau was frequently mentioned during the Debate in British Parliament as having made inappropriate communication with the people involved in the case.

Dr Ulrike Willinger (the psychologist responsible for writing a since-discredited 80 page criticism of the mother which heavily contributed to the 2011 custody decision) was an employee of Kenneth Thau, Konstanze Thau's husband. It seems odd that the judge specifically commissioned Dr Willinger to write the report and was never highlighted as a conflict of interest. This raises even more questions as this report has since been independently proven to be wildly inaccurate in favor of Mr Schlesinger. The custody decision was never reversed despite this underpinning report containing dubious findings.

There is further evidence to suggest that Konstanze Thau was working behind the scenes by the fact that Chabad Rabbi Biderman felt it necessary to forward the mother's private emails to her: http://helpbeth.blogspot.co.uk/p/court-document-rabbi-biderman-sent.html.

Frum Follies fabricates another lie - Adina Cohen

Frum Follies has been carrying a story regarding Adina Cohen who has defended Meisels. This is a fact and I am not disputing it. The story has also been carried on the Rare View Blog where Adina's father comments that Adina's mother had been murdered in Jerusalem in 2010 and that Meisels had been very supportive of her. He also notes that he has stopped her from further public comments on the matter.

 My objection to Lopin is the false story he has fabricated around Adina Cohen.

He claims she is a madricha at Chedvas one of the four seminaries and thus he slams the principal - Rabbi Kahane - for continuing to employ her. He also slams the Israeli Beis Din for ignoring an employee at Rabbi Kahane's seminary who supports Meisels.

These are Lopin's words:

Last week I posted a mass email by Adina Cohen, a madricha (dormitory counselor) in the Meisels seminary, Chedvas Bais Yaakov, directed by Rabbi Meir Kahane. In this email Adina appealed for support for Rabbi (sic) Elimelech Meisels as if he merited respect, as if he was innocent of serious allegations of sexual abuse, as if he still deserved to be called a rabbi. This concerns me because a staff that denies anything happened  is telling students they  will not be believed if they report abuse.

I am amazed that any seminary would employ such a dorm counselor. It does not square with the Israeli Beit Din position that “There is no cause to refrain from sending girls to study and dorm in these seminaries. It can be confidently assumed that the distinguished staff does its work trustworthily and it will continue to educate Jewish daughters for Torah and purposefulness.”

Obviously the Israeli Beis Din missed this miscreant. One can only wonder how many others they missed. It is clear that their blanket endorsement of staff is based on a very restrictive understanding of proof and a presumption of acceptability  (chezkas kashrus). But their flowery language deceives the public into believing that the staff are great. In reality a number of those staff are just not provably guilty because other staff and starry -eyed, mean alumni and students are intimidating witnesses into silence.

The above constitutes an outrageous lie. She is not working at the seminaries. She never worked and is not presently a madricha in Chedvas. She actually had nothing to do with Chedvas since her year in Seminary. She WAS a madricha in Binas but she is now living in Baltimore Maryland. Thus her letter has nothing to do with the ruling of the Beis Din regarding the seminaries. It has nothing to do with Rabbi Kahane. It has nothing to do with the integrity and competence of the Israeli Beis Din. But it does have to do with Lopin's vendetta against Rabbi Kahane and the seminaries as well as the Israeli Beis Din.

It is incredible reading the self-righteous commentators on Frum Follies as well as the Rare View who jump through hoops trying to be more "brilliant" than  the next in their comments and express greater horror at the awesome significance of this "employee" that Lopin has discovered. Everybody seems to take it as a given that anything that Lopin states must be true when in fact it is a lie. However now that I have exposed the lie - I doubt that any of them - especially Truthseeker - will apologize for babbling slanderous and false comments. They are only concerned with ways to slander others - because the facts are not what is important to them - it is the fun of being self-righteous.

Rolling Stone Tries to Regroup After Campus Rape Article Is Disputed

NY Times      Started nearly a half-century ago as a chronicle of 1960s counterculture, Rolling Stone established its journalistic credibility with provocative coverage of politics and current affairs.[...]

The magazine seemed to have struck again last month with a vivid account of a young woman who said she was gang-raped at a University of Virginia fraternity party, a story that helped drive the national debate over the problem of sexual assault on college campuses. [ Original Rolling Stone article with apology]

 

But late last week Rolling Stone found itself facing a crisis that threatened its reputation as a place for serious, significant journalism. Faced with reporting in The Washington Post that appeared to undermine crucial details of the accuser’s account, and a rebuttal of some aspects from the fraternity, the magazine published a note to readers on Friday saying that it had reservations about the article. It also acknowledged that it had erred in relying solely on the word of the accuser, named only as Jackie, and in agreeing not to try to contact the men she accused. 

“I have serious questions about what happened, and I am at this point not ready to say what happened that night,” the magazine’s managing editor, Will Dana, said in an interview Friday. “There should never be a story in Rolling Stone where I feel that way.” [...]

Rolling Stone was harshly criticized by media critics for its journalistic lapses, and by women’s groups who said it set back the cause of encouraging sexual assault victims to come forward. [...]

The accuser appeared to be distressed, perhaps as a result of her trauma, according to a person familiar with the newsroom’s process, who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to describe sensitive events. She had repeatedly asked Ms. Erdely that those she accused of raping her not be contacted. When the magazine brought up the issue again later, she threatened to withdraw from the story. [...]

The magazine faces some potential legal liability, said Eugene Volokh, a University of California, Los Angeles, law professor who also writes for The Washington Post. “Based on the facts as I have read about them in the media,” he said, “I would not have approved the publication of a story that names a fraternity, when there hadn’t been a call to the alleged rapists.” [...]

A therapist goes to middle school and tries to sit still and focus. She can’t. Neither can the kids.

Washington Post   This is a follow-up to two popular posts about the problems kids face when they are forced to sit still in school for hours on end without a break. The first, written by pediatric occupational therapist Angela Hanscom, was titled “Why so many kids can’t sit still in school today” and discussed how being inactive affects students’ ability to stay focused and learn, and in some cases leads to improper diagnoses of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, or ADHD. The next piece was titled
“The right — and surprisingly wrong — ways to get kids to sit still in class.”

Hanscom has now written a third related piece, this one specifically about middle-schoolers. Hanscom told me that she was curious about the effects of restricted movement on students in middle school, so she went to a local middle school to observe what was going on inside classrooms and talk to teachers and parents. The following post explains Hanscom’s experience and findings at the middle school she visited.  Hanscom is the founder of TimberNook, a nature-based development program designed to foster creativity and independent play outdoors in New England. [...]

Yoel Weiss & Rivky Stein: Court throws out most of RICO claims

 As further evidence of the weakness of Rivky's case, the court recently threw out most of the RICO claims. The rest will eventually also be rejected. In a separate action, the court has also rejected her requests for $25,000 maintainance and child support and $30,000 moving expenses

   Yoel Weiss Rejection Most RICO 

The Pygmalion Effect - the importance of positive attitudes towards others

Allan Katz    There is a lot of thought and psychology   behind Ya'akov's – Jacob's display of vulnerability, respect and servitude when he bowed 7 times before Eisav-Esau and called him my master. He bowed 7 times until he reached his brother and he certainly reached him. Eisav's compassion and mercy was aroused and he embraced and kissed Ya'akov and then he together with his brother cried. R' Hirsch explains that tears flow from the innermost feelings, so one can only cry if he is genuinely moved.

כַּמַּיִם, הַפָּנִים לַפָּנִים--    כֵּן לֵב-הָאָדָם, לָאָדָם. as in water, face to face, so too, is the heart of one person to another.  When one has positive thoughts and feelings about another person, these feelings will be reflected back to you as the other person will tend to feel positively about you too. A negative response from a person is a generally a reflection of how you feel about them. The feelings have to be genuine, coming from the heart and lightening up the face. These positive thoughts and feelings will lead us to act accordingly, with more empathy, compassion and kindness..

The idea in Proverbs precedes the so-called Pygmalion effect, documented in the 1960's, which showed how positive teachers'   assumptions, expectations and beliefs about student's intellectual potential affected student's performances in a positive way. Parents and teachers who believe that children have also a brighter side to their human nature and can behave in a virtuous and altruistic way can likewise impact on children and set into motion a self-fulfilling prophecy.

How we view children, our beliefs and subsequent expectations about them will guide and dictate our interventions and interactions with them. Parents and teachers who have a dark view of human nature and only see the negative side as in the verse -' since the imagery of man's heart is evil from his youth' –   כי יצר לב האדם רע מנעוריו  
 will resort to very controlling environments with rewards, consequences and punishments. The message to kids is that you can't be trusted to learn or behave unless you are given rewards or threatened with punishments. And then we see how kids become so addicted to and dependent on rewards and punishments.  When we write off kids as disruptive, defiant, manipulative or destructive they are likely to 'live down' to these expectations.

 The key to a parent-child or teacher-child relationship is the child learning to trust the parent and teacher, so that kids want 'relationship', sees  them as  guides and someone to come to , especially when they ' screw up' and make mistakes. Rav Pam relates that as a 'Rebbi and teacher' - a kid came late for class and offered some excuse adding that he could bring a note from his parents. Rav Pam responded that he had already explained why he came late, why  would he need a note from his parents.'' In truth, I wasn’t sure if he told me the truth, but I couldn’t let him feel that I don’t trust him.”  Most teachers would be much more focused on their fear that the student will feel he put one over on the teacher.  They probably wouldn’t even consider the harm that distrusting their student would cause. 

We can help students develop good values and middot by attributing to the students the best possible motive consistent with the facts. So when they are generous and pro-social we do not say they were motivated by self-interest. When  they don't meet our expectations it could be that that they are good kids but were unaware of how their actions impact on others and are lacking skills rather than being selfish, defiant aggressive and lacking in compassion. And we would then  in a collaborative way, ' work with' kids to   teach important life lessons and solve problems by finding mutually satisfying solutions .In this way the kid contributes to the solution, learns important life skills and a trusting relationship with the parent or teacher is enhanced. 'Treat kids 'as if they need to be controlled' we may well undermine their natural predispositions to develop self-controls and internalize commitments to upholding cultural norms and values' – Marilyn Watson. 'Doing to ' kids with rewards and punishments just teaches them to ask – what's in it for me and feel sorry for themselves. It does not help kids to reflect on what type of person they want to be and how their actions impact on others.

Higher expectations of kids are positive, but we need to ask ' higher expectations for what'? If our expectations for academics are higher test scores, we will teach to test .If we expect more engagement, curiosity, and self-directed learning we will teach accordingly. If our high expectations for kids behaving themselves and being responsible is being compliant and following instructions we will be controlling. But if we understand that kids learn to be responsible by making decisions and acting in a pro-social way, we will allow them to participate in making decisions and solve problems in a collaborative way.

We all have a brighter and a darker side to our human natures, capable of being generous and selfish, helpful or hurting. But the good news is that if we follow the advice in the words of Proverbs- Mishlei and take into account the Pygmalion effect we can help ourselves and those we interact with to become more positive and caring people.

Pearl Harbor Day: December 7, 1941

 

 This is an excerpt from Manchester's memoirs of his return to the battlefields of the Pacific in 1978 - taking a tour of Pearl Harbor

 

Manchester, William (2008-12-02). Goodbye, Darkness: A Memoir of the Pacific War (Kindle Locations 784-799). Little, Brown and Company. Kindle Edition

 

Historical shrines often become diminished by mundane surroundings. One thinks of Saint Peter's in Rome and Boston's Bunker Hill. Still , it is jarring, when driving to the port where the United States entered World War II, to find a prosaic green-and-white freeway sign, exactly like those on the American mainland, directing drivers to: 90 EAST PEARL HARBOR Following it, and instructions phoned to me at the Halekulani by CINCPAC, I come to a naval complex of moors and piers, fringed by palms warped by millennia of offshore winds. Elsewhere commercial launches leave hourly for tours of the harbor, but I am booked on a military VIP junket....

The movie, an NBC documentary, is suggestive of the March -of-Time style and was probably spliced from film clips shortly after the war. The narrator's voice is stentorian; the crashing score is by Richard Rodgers; there is a lot of Japanese footage captured after the war. Its chief interest is in what it omits. There isn't a single reference to U.S. bungling. Much is made of the fact that the Japs missed U.S. oil reserves, enough for two years, and dockyard repair facilities. At the end, with Rodgers's music soaring triumphantly, American warships steam out into the twilight to wreak vengeance on the deceitful enemy. As the lights are turned up, one almost feels that the Pearl Harbor raid was an American victory. Judging by their comments as we file out, the other VIPs are impressed. One recalls that the American navy has always been attentive to its reputation. Especially remembered is the alacrity with which , after the raid, the title of the commanding admiral here was changed to Commander in Chief, Pacific (CINCPAC), from Commander in Chief, United States (CINCUS)...

 

 ... But I jerk upright as we dart by one inlet. Moored there are the last ships I expected to see in Pearl Harbor — two spanking-new destroyers flying the Rising Sun battle ensign of the Empire of Japan . Ashore, I make inquiries and am told that , yes, I saw what I thought I saw. In fact, Japanese naval officers in dress whites are frequent guests at Pearl's officers' mess. And, my informant adds, they are very polite. Naturally. They always were. Except, of course, for that little interval there between 1941 and 1945. At 3: 00 A.M. in my comfortable Halekulani bed, my eyes pop open. The lean, hard, dreamland Sergeant in me has been leering sardonically, recalling the loudmouthed tourists , Hotel Street's smut, the navy's cover-up movie , and the welcome mat for Hirohito's seafarers. That will be the Sergeant's attitude every night — and he will come every night — during the early stages of my trip. If I rarely mention him, it is because his performance has become as unvaried as a cult rite. He gloats and glares and smirks cynically. I have begun to realize that it will take a great deal, a fire storm of passion, to exorcise him. In Honolulu the old man has no answer for the Sergeant . His experiences here have shaken him. Somehow Hawaii hasn't stirred memories of the blows inflicted on that distant day of infamy. And I think I know why. The answer, I believe, is that there was virtually no opposition to the Japanese, and therefore no fight. Like Fort Sumter, like Sarajevo, the disaster at Pearl is best remembered as a curtain raiser, largely irrelevant to the drama which followed. We were prepared to visit retribution on the enemy tenfold , but we didn't identify with the victims. Few had fought back. And as professionals they should have been ready to fight . Now we, the amateurs , had to do the job. And though we mourned them, the very brevity of the December 7 attack meant that there hadn't been time to hang breathless on their fate....