Dear YW Editor. I am utterly disgusted by the way the Jewish Press allowed one of their contributors – Elliot Resnick – to publish an article on the Jewish Press Blog which clearly slanders Chassidim! In a world where anti-Semitic attacks are becoming more frequent, the last thing we need is an anti-Semitic article written by a Frum Jew. If this article was written by a non-Jew, there would be calls to boycott the newspaper! WHY ARE WE SILENT?! (I have attached the article below:)
“Why shouldn’t they exaggerate?” he asked me, surprised that I would think otherwise.
While writing a recent article I was unsure how many people had attended a certain event. I happened to mention to someone that as a JTA article on the same subject would soon appear, I would see what number they gave for the crowd and base my estimate accordingly.
“But their number will be an exaggeration,” he said.
“Why should they exaggerate?” I asked him, knowing that the JTA is a professional agency, not a propaganda operation.
It was to this question that I received his “Why shouldn’t they exaggerate” reply.
To be honest, his question rang so strange in my ears that I had a hard time formulating an answer. And then a few minutes after the conversation’s conclusion it came to me: Why shouldn’t they exaggerate? Because doing so is false!
This point is obvious of course. But not apparently to this ostensibly religious Jew. To him, the question wasn’t why someone should depart from the truth, but why one would ever tell the truth in the first place.
Unfortunately, this gentleman is not alone in placing a very low premium on the value of truth. Unfortunately, some Jews, including — or perhaps especially — Chassidic Jews, will make sure never to shake a woman’s hand and to always faithfully wear a black hat but lie (stretching the truth is perhaps a more delicate term) with astonishing ease.
When one witnesses such behavior one wonders what makes these people so religious after all. One also wonders what kind of impression these Jews make on other people who may be unobservant or non-Jewish but whose inner religious core and rectitude are stronger and more Godly than these “truth stretchers.” Surely this cavalier attitude towards truth does not inspire others to praise the God whom these Jews (especially those wearing black hats or beards)apparently represent.
The impulse among many to come closer to God by becoming better Jews is laudable. However, these Jews and all Jews should attach greater importance to basic Biblical values and laws, such as the value of truth, than they do to ensuring that their tzitzis are clearly visible to all.
Unfortunately, the following story tells it all:
A man who daily came to a Jewish study hall decided to bring a bottle of milk with him so that he could greater enjoy the free coffee available every day at the hall. He labeled his bottle “Private” and placed it in the fridge near the coffee. When he opened the fridge at the day’s end, he found it nearly empty.
So, thinking that his sign was too small, he proceeded the next day to label his bottle with large letters, “PRIVATE, PLEASE DO NOT TAKE.” At the day’s end, nary a drop was left in the bottle.
So, learning his lesson and knowing that he was studying among religious people, the next day he wrote on his bottle, ” ‘DO NOT STEAL’ IS ONE OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.” An empty bottle, nonetheless, greeted him at the end of the day.
The next day, finally understanding the sad reality of present day Jews, he wrote the following: “Not chalav yisrael.” The milk was untouched.”
NOTE: There is a disclaimer on the side of the blog which reads “The views and opinions expressed on this blog, while written by Jewish Press staff, do not necessarily reflect the editorial positions of The Jewish Press;” yet right underneath that, there are the names of the seven contributers to the blog. (Elliot Resnick, Jason Maoz, Ziona Greenwald, Steven Plaut, Moshe Klass, Chumi Friedman, Shlomo Greenwald.) They are all writers for the Jewish Press, and their logo is proudly displayed on the blog.
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69 Responses
someone sould ask eliot if the story he told is true, otherwise he is nothing more than a liar!
I don’t know why you are suddenly so shocked? The JP has a long history of publishing outrageous articles and has been a platform for many anti-Torah opinions. The divre Torah inside are just like the chazir’s leg: pure pretence. The paper does not belong in any Torah home
It’s not against chasidim but against all frum Jews in general. THAT’S why our gedolim established Hamodia and Yated…….
This doesn’t surprise me. It is a typical example of how many non-Haredi Jews look for rare, unfortunate examples of Haredi Jews flouting Halacha as an excuse for the non-Haredim not to follow important tenets of the Shulchan Aruch such as cholov yisrael. First of all, the articles in the Jewish Press often are not properly edited. I am quite certain that few people have failed to notice the abundance of grammatical and spelling errors as well as the common Jewish Press blunder of an article saying “Continued on Page 42” only to find that it is nowhere to be found on Page 42. Also, call me judgmental, but most Modern Orthodox Jews such as the author of this article are completely clueless about Chasidim and our way of life. Unless they encounter them at work, most of the Modern Orthodox do not have an intimate relationship with a Chasid and view us the same way secular Jews do.
Without necessarily endorsing the content of Eliot Resnick’s article, I will state that:
A. With few exceptions, most of the chassidim with whom I have interacted have been upright and honest in their dealings with me. Eliot Resnick’s posting does not change that.
B. Unfortunately, it takes only one instance of deviant behavior to smear the good name of the entire group, be it the good name of Jews to the gentile world, or of frum to the frei, or of chassidim to the Litvish or MO.
So sorry for all the outrage, however as a member of the “chareidi” community, i fail to see that “emes”, consitent, accross-the-board honesty, and honest dealings, is a particualrly cherished and practiced charactersistic of what it means to be a Jew. HaShem Yirachem.
abouth the non female handshaking thing.I ussually explain that the torah gives trmendous respect for females and as such gives us strict guidlines in the intrest of their protection and physical vulnerabilty.
Abe
Who cares what the JP write???
It’s always been great reading material for the bais hakisay……..
“HEADLINE”
Man bites dog!
if it is slander , why repost it on this website?
be blessed
The ”Jewish” (quotes intentional) Press is nothing more than a liberal rag catering to the extreme left of the ”religious” spectrum. (Sometimes it is difficult to discern which religion).
I forget which Godol it was who was famously asked if it was permissable to bring the Jewish Press into a bathroom. His response was the proper shaila is if it is permissable to take the Jewish Press out of the bathroom.
I always thought they should make the Jewish Press two-ply!
Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetzky said that the Jewish Press shouldn’t be brought out of the bathroom.
Some of the bloggers have interesting thoughts. My family calls it the Jewish Mess. We be’shita do not allow that shmata into our house.
Terrible article, yes. But we have to be ready to accept mussar from wherever it comes. HaShem can use whatever means He pleases to remind us of our duties to always be 100 percent ehrlich and menschlich in our dealings. It’s all too easy to create a chillul HaShem when we are so visibly frum to the outside world.
12,
I think it was Reb Yaakov Kaminetzky!
Why would anyone bring this rag into their home- Vlo Sovee Toeva El Basecho-
I wouldn’t even read the JP in the bathroom, but, maybe it could be used as toilet paper.
I am making a prediction – in the next several weeks there will letters to the editor as well as editorials/articles in the JP BLASTING Yeshiva World with all sorts of wild accusations. this is the modus operandi of the JP, whenever someone is critical of them or points out something negative about them, they go into attack mode. They attacked the Yated several years ago when they realized that the Yated was gaining support in the community.
Resnick and his ilk obviously have a problem with Chasidim,and blackhatted Jew’s.
the notion of basic Jewish values (a good Jew at heart and the like)has always been used by the non Torahdicke crowd to dump on the Torah Jew. That Torahdicke Yidden (Chassidic or Litvish or other)need to conduct themselves in a torahdicke way and manner and not cause a Chilul Hashem by their conduct C.V. goes without saying, but the like of Resnick and his ilk will always find a way criticizing and insulting frumme Yidden who live by a Torahdicke way of life whatever they do. This is nothing new! This crowd has a terrible chip on their shoulder and they cant stand people who live according to the right standart. They will always define “basic Jewish values” to fit their Hashkofos and make themselves feel comfortabel because they are “better Jews in the heart”.
Thankfully the JP rag has gotten lots of competition and their circulation has been in decline for years (a fact that all ad agencies who place business ads will back up). This extreme anti Daas Torah publication (rag) has no place in any Torahdicke home, not only because of what it stands for, but also because of the substandart journalism and idiotic content that is printed witin its pages.
Good ridiance!
we should boycott the ??????Jewish??????? Press
I will B”N not read that Paper again
This thing is giving way too much attention to the JP. They are long past their prime & we don’t have much to worry about when they write this junk.
Look what happened to the Foward, does anyone still read it?
what is all the tumilt? THE JEWISH MESS has a long history of, apikorsis, mekalh panim batorah shalo k’halacha , lashon hara , rechilus and making maclokes b’yisroel.why are you now suprised ?the JEWISH MESS is in it’s death throes and anything that they can do to revive it they will do.
I find it amazing he would include that story as fact. I have heard that ‘story’ before and I have no doubt that that story started as a joke, and now it gets cited as ‘proof’ of something!
The Jewish Press may have its problems, but the Yated is worse. The Yated is written by people who are so worried about the chetzonios, but the Pnimius does not count. This problem is endemic to all segments of our frum population. It’s sad to say but if you look at what many of our rabbanim & gedolim do today (say one thing in public but in private do differently) you understand why we are in this matsif today. P.S. I am a yeshivish black hatter.
Tzee Klug,
what proof do you have that they are in their death throes? There seems to be plenty of advertising still going on there.
This from a Jewish newspaper that lauds the meshumad Adm. Hyman Rickover on a front page glorification. What do you expect?
I don’t mean to be on the wrong side of the discussion here, however I work for a major corporation and we have many dealings with the chasidishe community and the level of chillul hashem that some of them (not all but more than one) have caused due to trying to defraud financial institutions has caused more than one large company in NY to stop dealing with a number of chasideshe run businesses have been banned from doing business with my company due to fraudulent information they were submitting. Although I would say the majority of them are honest the few bad apples ruin the bunch and cause a huge chillul hashem. I feel that I, as a frum Jew, is looked at differently at work b/c of a few people looking to “get away” with fraud.
post 28 – your castigating of the Rabbanim and Gedolim with no basis is flat out wrong – whether or not you wear a black hat is not relevant. I think that your post should have been edited for false accusations
Flatbusher, please tell of where to find these amendments to the Torah of which freedom of the press is the first. Even from a secular point of view, just because something is legally protected doesn’t mean it is right, or that it should not be protested. Did he check that his milk story is not embellished or even made up? I for one do not believe it at all. It was probably said once as a moshol or something like that. While we are on the topic of lashon harah, I would like to mention something regarding a different post. Someone there mentioned that no lashon hara was said about a certain communal organization. That was not true at all as the writer he was refering to implied that they did things for their own benefit which is definitely lh. The editor them mentioned a few times a complaint about people hiding behind a screen name. I an just pointing out that it does not say anywhere on this site who the editor is, and he is therefore guilty of his own complaint.
You know, the chalav stam milk story has been circulating the joke pages of many jewish magazines for many years.I have seen it many times. Is anyone going to challenge this guy about the validity of this story and where he heard it from and weather or not its actually true?
Abe
The ‘Monsey Butcher’ was no Chosid and neither was the Chevrah man who ‘counselled’ women! I wish people would finally start realizing that there are rotten apples amongst US ALL!!
Come on, everyone knows that newspapers exaggerate attendance at events – to deny it is ludicrous. And as they guy said, why wouldn’t they? It’s standard practise, everyone expects it, and if they stated the actual attendance people would automatically discount it and assume that the real attendance was far lower.
And no, this sort of untruth is completely permitted and not any sort of issur – in fact it’s endorsed by an explicit mishnah (I’ll leave the identity of the mishna as an exercise for the reader).
torah-his1, Go ahead and continue reading Pravda so you can know all the flaws of Democracy (and the supremcy of communism), instead of reading some domestic stew that irrationaly and reflectively defends Democracies.
Flatbusher: Of course free speach is a Constitutional right. As is eating pork, driving on Shabbos or acting immorally. When a publication claiming to be one of the mouthpieces of Judaism show their true colors, as being avid “Frum-bashers”, it is surely a reason for outrage! You write, “Boycott the Jewish Press, if it makes you feel better”. If it makes you feel better?!! How can someone bring such a paper into their home?! This is not about feeling better. It is about doing what’s right and distancing ourselves from those that – deep inside – can’t really stand true Yiddishkeit.
Incidentally, I heard Rav Avigder Miller ZT”L call the Jewish Press “a rag”. It is often quoted that Rav Yaakov Kamenetzky ZT”L was asked if one can take the Jewish Press into the bathroom, to which he answered, “The question is if one can take it OUT of the bathroom!”
Before this blog I had read only one other Jewish blog in which comments were always respectful. Since becoming a YW reader a few months ago, I have been on several occasions very shocked and sickened by the venom and sinas chinam spewed by the commentators toward one another, and toward others in the klal.. I have tremendous fear as to what we will bring upon ourselves due to this serious breach. There seem to be no end of topics which unleash this hatred. Is there really any reason to deny the obvious dishonesty and hypocrisy, because we don’t like who delivered the message?
I once asked my Mashgiach in yeshiva if halachicly one could bring the JP into the bathroom. He responded , ” the question should be if one is permitted to take it out of the bathroom”
The Jewish Press is a gutter newspaper and does not belong in any torah observant home. Period.
It is filled with the most vile stories of loshon hora and unfit articles for any frum person to read. Instead of giving the pathetic moron the attention he so desperately seeks, ignore the dunce and discuss other more important topics.
the question ‘why people do not shake hands with a woman but still lie’ is a stupid question and comes from basic ignorance.
The chazon ish and other poskim say that shaking ones hand with a woman is a lead-up to gilui arayos and you should rather be killed than shake hands. On the other hand, lying, depending on certain cases an asseh.
Just like the so called ‘religious’ people of the jewish press do not cook on shabbos but when it comes to reading the non-jewish paper that arrives on shabbos which which is ossur to request for delivery as it is ossur to tell a non-jew to work for you (seeing as he cannot do it before shabbos because it’s not printed, and you want it in the morning it is like telling him to do it on shabbos which is prohibited), an is ossur to read (as it is like post that arrives on shabbos which is ossur to read), and is muktzah, so ossur to move. but it doesn’t look like such bad thing a) as it is not like a real malachah, b) it is done in the privacy of the person’s house and no rabbi can catch him. so too a more chareidi person when it comes to lying (which is not as bad as reading newspapers on shabbos) thinks noone would catch him, and is nt like a real aveirah. so they are at least the same as them.
Truth be told it is quite easy to understand why a person is scared of doing an aveirah, which is better to be killed than trangress, than an asseh which is very strict but not as strict as the above.
denoting from the above it looks like the whole reason they are against lying is because it is not upstanding and not truthful, if this is so then i pity them for all the things it says in the zohar about a person who keeps the mitzvos because it makes sense rather than because we are a jew.
I for one have done business with dozens of chasidish ppl and have found 99% of them to be fine ehrliche honest people who have been a pleasure to deal with. Of course there are bad apples but the vast majority of them are upstanding decent people.
I find it disgusting when I hear people talk in a derogatory way about chasidim as if they are some sort of sub-culture. I once mentioned to someone that I take the Monsey Trails bus to manhattan every day (not anymore, but I used to), and his response was an incredulous “really?? You can actually sit on the chusbus every day with all those chasidim?? If I had to go to manhattan I would definitely drive in so as to avoid that.” It’s frankly sickening.
af al pi cain, this blog was provoked by an article in the jewish press-first write to jewish press and then write to YW.
All I can tell that writer is: if he gets in an accident, please don’t
use hatzalah. If stuck on the road, don’t use chaveirim. If he has
cancer chas v’sholom, don’t use RCCS, Chai Lifeline, Bikur Cholim or
Mekimi. Or if he should need to visit someone in the hospital, don’t use
Chesed. And if you do wanna drink Cholov Yisroel,
Or if you have problems having kids don’t use Bonei Olem. Or if you
can’t aford food for shabbos, pls don’t take from Tomchei Shabbos, because
they are all founded & still run by Chassidim and frum people. Please
stay where you are and don’t be so proud of your bad hashkafah. Btw the
goy hates you more than you hate chasidim.
It is time for the Staff at YW to open a newspaper!
goodjew (47)
excellent post!
A few years ago a jewish executive of a large supermarket chain called me to express his consternation at the fact that the chain which routinely weighs samples of packaged products to verify that the weight stated matches the actual weight, found that the so called “heimishe” companies were significantly deficient in this area. Let’s be honest with ourselves! Someone guilty of flouting a relatively minor religious restriction, whether he be “yeshivish”,”litvish”, or “chasidish”is less tolerated by our respective communities than is one who is guilty of making R”L a far more serious “chillul Hashem” Gedolim have literally cried regarding our callousness in these matters. What will get our attention and cause a change in our attitudes and in fullfilling our mandate of being a “Mamleches Cohanim V’Goy Kadosh”?
Incidentally, as a former Talmid of Rav Yaakov Kaminetsky ZT”L, I refuse to believe that the quip, as humorous as it may have been, was made by Rav Yaakov whose whole being personified “Emes”
It baffles me that so many posters to this blog are in denial and are just plain defensive. The lack of truthfulness among our own is such a disgrace that the Agudah had to conduct a seminar on business ethics recently. Listen to the tapes, especially the one by Attorney Ed Rubin, and you’ll understand the serious problem we are facing. Listen to Chaim Leshkowitz, a noted CPA, and you’ll get a lesson in how fraud is tearing us apart. Let’s all face the truth and not skewer Elliot Resnick, who’s only the messenger.
Although I do not agree with Mr. Resnick’s viewpoint,and do not feel it is right to besmirch an entire group as a whole for the transgressions of a few, I honestly do not think this was his intent. You see, Mr. Resnick is a Lubavitcher CHOSSID himself!
I would like to make some points about this post and some of the comments.
1. It is a major mistake to categorize all members of a particular group as being this or that. We should focus on individuals and judge them by their actions.
2. This being said, it is important that all religious Jews realize that they stand out by the way they dress. (Even a MO woman wearing a skirt in the summer is recognizable as an observant Jew by many non-Jews and non-religious Jews. As a result, we must be very careful about how we behave. Many judge all of Yiddishkeit by how they see one Jew behaving.
2. I have written an article related to this subject that appeared (you guessed it) in the JP. It is entitled “Frum or Ehrliche” and is at http://www.jewishpress.com/displayContent_new.cfm?contentid=19683&mode=a§ionid=61&contentname=Frum_or_Ehrlich?&recnum=7.
3. I must object to those who blanketly trash the Jewish Press. They object when a writer condemns an entire group, and yet do not hesitate to condemn an entire newspaper that has many writers and articles about all sorts of topics.
Of course, I am one of those writers, so it is only natural that I should be sensitive to this sort of blanket criticism. The positive feedback I have received from all over the world regarding my articles about American Jewish history testify, IMHO, to the fact that there are articles of value in the JP that are well worth reading.
My I respectfully suggest that those who feel there is nothing of value in the JP to read go to http://personal.stevens.edu/~llevine/pub.html and read some of the articles there.
Dr. Yitzchok Levine
Department of Mathematical Sciences
Stevens Institute of Technology
Hoboken, NJ 07030
[email protected]
http://personal.stevens.edu/~llevine
Journalism has never been an art of honesty. There have been articles in EVERY Jewish and Torah publications that with the smear of a pen have castigated groups of yidden in all sorts of negativity. All statements of generalizations!!!
Take your pick and you will find these hostile pieces against Modern Orthodox, Yeshivish, Religious Zionists, Chassidim, Satmars, Lubavitchs, Working Frum, Non-working Frum, Right Wingers, YUers, Breslovs, Israeli citizens, Non-Israeli Citizens, Charedim, Young Israel types and etc. etc.
This was not even in the paper it was a blog which are full of anger, hostility and argumentive types. (dont we know!!)
GoodJew,
You’re a great Jew.
Flatbusher,
Hashem created us imperfect with a yetzer hora, and gave us the Torah and Mitzvos to help combat the yetzer hora and to perfect ourselves; that is our challenge. If we would be perfect there would be no point to our existence.This is true for Chasidim, Litvaks, Israelis, Sephardim, people from Boro Park and even people from Flatbush! The purpose of the “uniform” of black hat, shtreimel, jacket, beckishe etc. is to remind the wearer that he should live up to his challenge and continue battling his never ending milchemes hayetzer; it DOESN’T mean he thinks he’s perfect, to the contrary it means he’s aware that he’s imperfect.
So while yes we all make mistakes, and the Gemara says “rubam bigezel” it doesn’t mean that the “black hatters” are not battling and winning in other significant areas or even in gezel itself. So instead of denigrating chasidim applaud them for engaging in growth…..and perhaps try growing yourself.
A QUOTE FROM REB AHRON KOTLER Z”L
The truth must be heard, Even if the public doesn’t like the sound of it. Whatever the circumstances, regardless of the consequences. The truth must be stated-loudly, clearly & unequivocally”.
I am a Chossid myself and a Lubavitcher at that. I take no offense at the comments of Elliot Resnik. He seems to be a straight young man who is brave enough to comment on a true problem.
P.s He changed a few lines of his article in response to general outrage.
It’s only going to get worse. Children see their parents breaking the law, acting rude to strangers, littering garbage all over, honking their horns every few seconds, evading taxes, commiting welfare fraud, and they grow up thinking that this is acceptable behavior. It’s only going to get worse–unfortunately. I really don’t see a solution. It would take a MONUMENTAL effort by ALL those in leadership positions to affect this change–and it’s just not going to happen. Too many people from all walks of life are caught up in this unholy way of life. Doesn’t anyone worry about Olam Haba anymore?
Dear “An Honnest Yid”:
Stop worrying about OLAM HABA !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Start worrying about what Hashem wants from us and how He wants us to behave!
The quote that it is a shaila if it is permissible to bring the JP out of the bathroom is accurate (and well known.)
I’m not sure why everyone’s bashing the author. He begins with citing a significant problem: the nonchalance that some people have toward lying. The author then illustrates the apparent hypocrisy of many people who are stringent in some matters, but in many other situations, specifically those dealing with other people, are quite lax.
There are a few good reasons that the author chose Chassidim as an example of a sect that is untruthful:
1. Perhaps the author thought that this lying problem is more prevalent among the Chasidish than among the Modern Orthodox. (I think that from my personal experience this would be correct. There are honest Chasidim, but that doesn’t change the fact that there are many who are pretty crooked.)
2. It’s possible that the author sees a bigger problem with Chasidim lying than with others. This is not so hard to believe. Chasidim go out of their way to show their religiosity, and are machmir in many ways (i.e. Cholov Yisroel). Naturally, the author sees hypocrisy and therefore a major problem. While the lies of other Jews may be just as prevalent, it’s easier to swallow the transgressions of non-machmirim.
The author concludes with a story/parable illustrating his point. There is nothing to make someone believe that he was saying it was true. He was merely accentuating his point.
Joseph: What does it meant that the post is “accurate”?
liddleyiddle, After many people above quoted Maran Hagoen Rav Yaakov Kamenetzky ZTV’L as saying exactly that, one commentator said he doesn’t think that Rav Yaakov would say that it is a shaila if one may bring the JP out of the bathroom. I was merely advising him the multiple commentators above who quoted that maaise, do so accurately.
1. Mr. Resnick is not MO. Even if he were, classifying him in because of what he wrote is certainly making a critical generalization. Isn’t that the issue that has everyone up in arms?
2. Much to my own consternation, I find that goyim perceive Chassidm as the most religious of Jews. I am not a Chossid and this offends me. I think that my level of observance is equal to theirs, only our appearances differ. Nevertheless, the perception is that they are the most religious so it is reasonable to hold them to the highest of standards. (I would hold myself to the same). Hypocrisy, if there is any, is most apparent amongst the most visible people.
3. If you have issues with JP then why is this something to get worked up about? After this you have a problem but not before?
4. The response to criticism is not to criticize the criticism. That would add weight to the accusation of hypocrisy. If it’s true accept it, if not ignore it. Don’t fall into the trap of “he protesteth too much”.
5. The cholov yisroel story may or may not be true but we all “get it” don’t we? That is the point. If such a joke is clever then it shows a problem.
resnik wrote: “…the question wasn’t why someone should depart from the truth, but why one would ever tell the truth in the first place.”
resnick never identifes who this person is. is he chassidish, litvish, mo, non-affiliated, lubavitch? all we know is based on some conversation that may or may not have taken place based on crowd ESTIMATES(read: approx. numbers, not exact numbers – therefor any use as actual numbers is FALSE), he starts into a diatribe against chassidim and others.
what shaking hands with ladies and wearing black hats has to do with lying, by perhaps overestimating a crowd, is beyond my ability to understand.
i think resnick was really trying to make one point: he is ethical and lies will never depart from his lips, he may or may not wear a black hat, he may or may not shake hands with a lady, but lie, NEVER – he is far to holy to do that!
finally, his little moshul to prove his point – an emes seeker should never use a made up story (a falsehood) to prove his point. what resnick did is as follows:
1) unknown person questions validity of estimates
2) some potentially unrelated group is bad because they lie
2) worse than you could imagine these liars hiding under their black hats
3) want proof positive? here is a made up story that proves my point – now do you understand how bad they are.
and, he calls himself an impartial journalist (talk about a lie)
Dr. Levine,
In every cesspool if you dig long enough you might find something worth keeping; but its still a cesspool.
In general theres a ton of krumkeit in the paper keep away!
mdlevine: Identifying the person is completely unnecessary. Resnick’s narrative is merely an exposure to the problem at hand.
Trying to say that they were “perhaps overestimating” is a little bit ridiculous. The word his friend use was “exaggerate,” which means “to magnify beyond the limits of truth.” (dictionary.com)
Nowhere does he imply that lying has anything to do with wearing a black hat or not shaking hands a lady has anything to do with lying. He is merely noting the hypocrisy of some people: They’re careful to do things that according to at least some Poskim are not necessary, while violating a blatant issur d’oraysa.
As for your point about not making up parables, I don’t really see your logic.
My father used to bring a bottle of kosher milk to work…yes in a goyisha company…and everyday the milk was gone even though it was marked private. This is a universal problem.
Incidentally, he used the following tactic to stop this milk theft. He would pour the milk into a jar and marked the jar with a large “RX”, signifying that it was some sort of medication that needed to be refridgerated. No one ever used his milk again.
I have never commented before but will do so now- I dont get it. We are bashing someone and something because they bashed someone or some people. Does that make sense ? And that is right ? Think.
Thanks
Gavra – Uhhhh…what exactly is ‘kosher milk’? As opposed to what…?
liddleyiddle – you see the logic in the leap from a private conversation regarding exageration, that may be nothing more than a parable to prove a point, to castigating chassidim?
“…Unfortunately, some Jews, including — or perhaps especially — Chassidic Jews,…”
if he passes off a story at the end as true, perhaps the story upfront is just as true as the milk story.
in other words
1) make up a story to set up a diatribe against a group of people
2) elaborate the diatribe
3) prove your point with another made up story
once again great journalistic integrity!
maybe resnick can build a whole story around post #50 to continue to prove his point – not sure about you, but I certainly do not believe that heimishe companies are significantly deficient in this area.
regarding the use of parables: you can not use a made-up story to prove your point – you can use it to teach a lesson or to clarify a point — but NOT as proof that everything I wrote is true because of this cute (or not so cute) little story. can’t see the logic in that?
To #28 useamster:
You come across as a chitzoniusdike yeshivish black-hatter, not a pnimiusdige one.
re: post 57
“…He changed a few lines of his article in response to general outrage.”
I went to the post and yes there were words crossed out, not removed, just crossed out for all to see. this was not done by resnick but by the eidtors of the blog
there is also another post by one if the editors of the JP (same last name as the founder of the JP) saying clearly that to lump all together because of some is wrong and concluding “The story with the milk: It’s a very interesting story, but did you hear this first hand? If not, it most likely never happened.”
The comment was repulsive. Shame on Resnick, shame on the Jewish Press.
Regardless of whether or not you agree with Resnick’s blog, there is absolutely no excuse for the denigration of the Jewish press that many of you voiced. The outright lashon hara that was spoken is outrageous. One of the founders of the paper, Rabbi Shalom Klass zt”l, was a masmid par excellence whom many gedolim were fond of. Those who run the paper today, follow in the pathways of Rabbi Klass as well. You may not agree with the articles in the paper, but that gives you absolutely no right (mamash a violation of halacha-how ironic that is that which you are criticizing resnick for) to publicly defame a paper, run by frum yiddim. Hashem should have mercy on you and treat you as “fools” who need the rachamim of shamayim to save them.
hakolbedaishamayim: so calling us fools is fine – talk about foolishness