Simon Jacobson on Bioluminescent Dinoflagellates

In his latest email installment Simon Jacobson writes from Ritz Carlton, San Juan, Puerto Rico on Passover 2005:

Well, when you look deep enough you�re bound to discover Divine riches, especially among the wonderful people who have joined together to celebrate Passover in the Puerto Rico (port of the rich).

Sure enough, Puerto Rico is host to one of the most spectacular Bioluminescent Bays in the world. Every object that enters the water in this unusual bay begins to glow in the night. The mysterious blue-green light is created by microorganisms, which thrive in this unique bay, also known as Phosphorescent Bay. The bay contains up to 720,000 single-celled bioluminescent dinoflagellates per gallon of water. These half-plant, half-animal organisms emit a flash of bluish-green light when agitated at night, lighting up submerged objects with an aqua-green aura.

The high concentration of these creatures � called Pyrodimium bahamense, in case you were wondering � can create enough light to read a book from.

The flashes of light are believed to be a defense mechanism used by the plankton to scare off or confuse predators -- giving the plankton enough time to escape. The glow is created from the combination of a protein and enzyme that occurs within the organism.

A trip into the Phosphorescent Bay on a moonless night is a magical experience. Fish flash by in dark water, boats take on a silver rim of light and a swim is like floating through stardust. Lie on your back and make luminescent snow angels. Raise your hand from the water and watch pellets of light drop back into the sea. A halo surrounds every piece of matter that enters the water.

Above all, these illuminating waters show us the true nature of existence. Every creature gives off light; every organism a glow. We are all bodies of energy, waiting to be ignited, waiting to shine forth.

Mayim Shelonu

Reuters photo by Gil Cohen Magen
Blogging is/was light. I am currently thinking and working on a few interesting projects for the blog. Thank you to all the contributors! A Gut Moed! A Gut Yon Tev!

Competition is good for every_body

AFP photo by Menahem Kahana

Looking for Chometz in Gaza

AP photo by Baz Ratner
Itzhak Golan is looking for Chometz in Neve Dekalim in the Gush Katif, Gaza

United States of Lubavitch in New Haven, CT

New Haven Nudge comments to Marc Oster vs. New England Hebrew Academy:

I've met several adults who related that it took a long time after a New Haven Hebrew Day "experience" to get back into religious observance, and some still haven't "returned" out of pure anger after many years. Don't be fooled by a name change and press releases - ain't nothing new going down at that place as long as it's run by the current management, except they'll lose the remaining few good educators that haven't been pushed out or run away already. It's great to see the light of day shining on these schools - keep it up. Thank God there are good alternative community orthodox schools in Fairfield and West Hartford.

BTW, the non-Chabad yeshiyot/kollels in Bridgeport and Waterbury are thriving since beginning only 2-3 years ago; I expect you'll see more migrations from overcrowded New York groups into "has been" cities with inexpensive property in Connecticut based upon the success of the first two schools.

Schneur Zalman of NY responds:
I first raised the issue of the NHDS in regards to nepotism. I think I made my position clear there. But let�s not bash the school. Let me state a few facts in defense of the school, for many years the school had an excellent Judaic faculty with men like rabbis Goodman, Lichtenstein, Schildkraut and Goldblatt on the faculty. There are numerous graduates of the school who are Orthodox Jews in NY, Baltimore, and other places.

The fact that the school is Chabad is not my problem. For years the MO community refused and to this day refuses to do ANYTHING to help JEWISH EDUCATION in the city. Even when the NHDS was open many fine MO lay leaders and rabbis sent their kids to public schools!!! There has never been a MO attempt since the start of NHHDS to start an alternative MO school. A few attempts were made to bring in other right wing groups to start secondary schools and friends they all f ailed because of lack of community support.

To my friend from NH a question is anyone in the city doing anything to start a normative school grade by grade as we speak? Not to my knowledge. Its easy to criticize but what of actions? Only Lubavitch and rabbi Greer have dedicated themselves to Jewish education in NH. The MO shuls are not interested in that aspect of Judaism, or are happy with NHDS.

Waterbury has not seen a great migration to it besides people connected to the Yeshiva , BPt even less so. The verdict is still out on these places. A challenge the only way NH can be revived is by the remaining members of the normative orthodox community organizing and opening either a YU type kollel or a right wing kollel in one of the 2 orthodox Shuls that are empty most of the day, most of the week, most of the year. But alas this will not happen. So the Hecht family has dedicated itself to Jewish education and were it not for them I bet the community would still not have some normal day school.

New Haven Nudge: In some ways, the very existence of one school in an area can prevent another from starting. Why go through the effort to found a new MO school if you believe, or are lead to believe, that an existing institution is a "community school" that will serve the needs of the MO parents?

Only Chabad and R. Greer had the single-minded focus to start their schools - I give them credit for those efforts. Both schools seem to survive on a lot of effort and little money. But are they effective at offering a positive educational experience to a wide variety of local Jewish kids? No way - and it seems to be getting worse, not better.

The "MO" community indeed deserves a thumping for not starting their own school; their children, however, did not merely attend public school - many attended the Conservative day school, and other willing to commute sent their kids to Fairfield or West Hartford. Still, they had/have the money, and probably could have taken care of this problem a long time ago. They didn't, hence we're left with two rather marginalized K-8 Orthodox Jewish day school choices in the city.

Waterbury is a thriving community - have you visited it? They also have begun to form links with at least one Orthodox congregation in New Haven. Bridgeport is a smaller group, but I suspect they'll grow given my previous references to the low property costs in these Connecticut cities.

Competition is good for everyone in Toronto

This morning I took a taxi to Toronto airport. It was driven by Yacov a mountain Jew. We spoke in Russian. He first asked me if it was me sitting next to Rabbi X in Shule. I said yes. Silence�
Yacov: Did you hear that maysa they told us, this is out of children�s books. I asked many times why don't they tell us about Haftora, why treat us like children? I run business since I was 13, competition is good for everyone, rabbis and Jews.
TA: This is not Rabbi�s fault. Tanach unfortunately is not taught in any of the Yeshivos.
Yacov: I washed floors so my daughters can go to CHAT. Did you see the one who was reading Torah in Shule, it�s my son in law! My dream is to spend a year learning. I would like to learn Tanya and Tanach�

Untied States of Lubavitch in Springfield, MA

Shmuel Monkes writes about Springfield MA in response to The Lubavitch institutions in New England:

We have b'h 5 shluchim and their families - Rabbi Edelman is the Sr Shaliach - he is loved throughout the entire community both Jewish and otherwise - his ahavas yisrael is palpable - he lives a simple life and although he is past 80, he still "works the territory" seeking funds to keep the yeshiva going. You can see by looking at him that he sees each Jewish neshama as a diamond. He brings beautiful and serene chassidish heimishness to the community. We have a beautiful beis medrash with a minyan every shabbos am followed by a kiddush/farbrengen - attendance anywhere from 12-15 through 200+ (if there's a simcha). The school is the only yeshiva accredited by NEASC ( a big kavod and kiddush Hashem and K'L) - the accreditation was recently renewed after a thorough review of the school from top to bottom - the yeshiva undertook this arduous path for both internal as well as external reasons - primarily it wanted to grow and be the best it can be.

I guess my problem with the post is that it seems like Massachusetts was parceled out like some mafia territory to the families - the Gambino's, the Castellano's etc. I can�t speak for other communities but Springfield is not about a land grab or some of the other vague, unsubstantiated "allusions of fiscal wrongdoing and mismanagement" that every yutz with a PC and a blog address seems to think is de rigeur these days. The shluchim work endless hours for little monetary reward - if there's not enough money in the payroll, the shluchim forego their salary - is that how the Gambino's work? They�re hard wired for ahavas yisrael and to get Jews to do mitzvos and come home. They are also fighting an uphill battle against a greying population, a community that would prefer less frumkeit overall (read affluent Longmeadow) and other extrinsic factors, such as the lack of a frum infrastructure - e.g kosher restaurants, etc - ironically if they hit a home run and get a yid turned on, the guy might very well up and move to a frum community! Yet these extended family members come back for all the simchas, etc.

There is a small community day school - heritage - down the block (literally) I am quite unaware that it has overshadowed the yeshiva -- but hey, if you know something I don't, I'm willing to listen - ironically, the last rabbi to be at kodimah sent his kids to yeshiva - although heritage is the community school - he didn't last out the year - the new rabbi quickly got the hint and sent his kids to heritage. There are 5 ortho minyanim but with the exception of the progressive MO synagogue Kadima - they all face declining and aging population and for some getting/retaining a minyan is an ongoing challenge. All in all it's been quite satisfying living here with a selfless, dedicated group of people (though we do need a good shawarma place)

Rebeljew agrees with Shmuel Monkes: Why, I feel a tear forming. But really, Rabbi Edelman is a standout. He does not deserve to be lumped in with the likes of the Boston, New Haven, Worcester ,and Stamford fiefdoms. Nor does the Trumbull Chabad have to bear such nefarious company. But the exceptions are just that, exceptions! If they were only the rule...

Boruch ato haShem Nosen haToronto

I was in Toronto to spend Sedorim by the tish of the next Lubavitcher Rebbe. I lost a $10 bet to his son Schneur Zalman who told me that his father was born in Riga. Indeed he was in fact bourn in Riga but his parents quickly returned back to Moscow with the infant.


Boruch ato haShem nosen hatoronto was how one of the Russian Jews actullay mispronounced a transliterated blessing.

mentalblog.com fan club

Here and there.


Reuters photo by Gil Cohen Magen

The only messianic news available

Reuters Photo by Oleg Popov

I was in Toronto for Sedorim. A man came to the house of Rov of the Agudas Israel Loiw (Loy sp?) according to what I was told the man announced that he is Moshiyah and demanded to see the Rov. When the Rov refused to speak to him he proceeded to through stones in his house. The Rov called Police. Two police cars responded to the call and chased the Moshiyah who allegedly disappeared. Police cars crashed into each over. Rabbi Mordechai Levin is an Executive Director of COR. His 20 year old son was walking on the same street and was hit but one of the police cars. He was mortally wounded. He was buried erev Pesach.

LeAlter LeTshuva, LeAlter LeGeulah!

Spanish Pesach Haggada, 14th century, Illumination on parchment, 18,5 x 22 cm, Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest

Thirteen year olds in prison on Pesach in Israel

The video of the arrest in Hebron:

A citizen of Hebron asked to spread this message through the blogsphere:
Late this morning, Judge Amnon Cohen, president of the Jerusalem Shalom Court, ruled that five girls, including several thirteen year olds, would remain imprisoned until further notice. The five girls were arrested two nights ago at the Hebron Heroes Neighborhood, where a group of youth from Hebron and Kiryat Arba attempted to rebuild there a shack. The site, located on 'worshipers way,' between Kiryat Arba and Hebron, is across the street from the area where 12 men, including three civilians and 9 officers and soldiers, were killed by Arab terrorists two and a half years ago.

The police accused the girls of 'attacking' them, however the film of the event shows otherwise. One of the 13 year olds arrested is Yisca Federman, daughter of Noam and Elisheva Federman. She told her parents that she and the others weren't doing anything � 'we were just there.' "The police saw us and arrested us, for no cause, except our presence at the site," she told them. Following their arrest, the girls were taken before Judge Cohen, who ordered them to sign a declaration forbidding them to be anywhere near the Hebron Heroes Neighborhood for 90 days. The girls refused. The judge then ordered them to spend the night in jail.

This morning he called the girls into his courtroom one by one, and asked them if they understood that if they continued to refuse to sign the declaration, they would spend all of Passover behind bars. Each girl answered that she understood. He then asked them if they would sign and they all refused, one at a time. Judge Amnon Cohen decreed, 'then you will remain in prison until further notice.'

According to an expert on Israeli judicial proceedings, there is no precedent for such a ruling, as such a decree does not appear in Israeli jurisprudence and is, for all intensive purposes, illegal. At the moment the girls are being held at the Gush Etzion police station. An appeal is being filed with the Jerusalem municipal appeals court.

Jerusalem Post, IRA SLOMOWITZ AKA Out of Step Jew: Religious Zionists: Don't count us out yet.
Jerusalem Post, Isi Leibler: The dangerous silence of modern Orthodoxy.

Welcome to all the Matisyahu fans

Photo I took on the 3rd Candle in Boston.

This blog has a number one Google ranking on Matisyahu. Matis has a new record (to the right) and has been blasting print and TV media since yesterday. Net result is close to a thousand visitors through Google and other searches to mentalblog.com just today and not a one will say Shalom?

Next Year in Jerusalem?

Consider this, "Jerusalem has suffered a net loss of over 60,000 people in the last decade, the most commonly cited reason being the high cost of housing" - writes Gilly in If I forget thee......

While deportation of 8,000 Jews from Gaza is subject of a bitter political battle there is the other silent deportation on a larger scale, be it 60,000 from Jerusalem or Yordim leaving the country, or Jews in Diaspora leaving our people due to the lack and expense of the Jewish education. What we need is spotlight on social, economic and governmental notions that are threatening to undermine our national future on much larger scale than the deportation from Gaza. In many ways the Gaza deportation is just the consequence of the other developments that most do not like to talk about.

Binyomin writes:

The chareidi "system" of discouraging secular education is psychologically dysfunctional and economically unsound; it creates a welfare program society not unlike those of other visible minorities such as inner-city Latinos, Blacks, and Native American Indians with all the associated sociological and crime-related problems. We think we're somehow different and immune. We're not.
Because this is at its root a "values" problem, it will only be seriously addressed when people with courage and authority change the current chareidi value system from within. This will effectively democratize the decision-making process, thereby threatening the existing power structure. But it is essential. If you want to make an omelet, you have to break a few eggs.

It takes two or five "fathers of three" who as Berl says "practice severe birth contort" to support one family of twelve. This does not sound right?

Future Biur Chometz

Rerun, this movie reminds me of how I do Biur Chometz around here: Eternal Battle of Good Versus Evil.

How to clean your keyboard for Pesach

Biur Chametz: Office Pesach cleaning guidelines::
If you never eat at the computer, no Pesach cleaning is necessary.

If you sometimes eat chametz while working at the computer, the keyboard must be thoroughly cleaned of crumbs. There are two main approaches among the halachic authorities. The lenient position deems it sufficient to turn the keyboard upside-down and shake it vigorously until no more crumbs fall out. A minority of posekim, however, require the keycaps to be removed (this can usually be accomplished easily with a bit of leverage from a screwdriver) and the interior of the keyboard to be vacuumed clean of crumbs. Please consult your rabbi for advice.

Either way, if you plan to use the computer over Chol Hamoed, the keyboard should be covered. Some computer shops and kosher supermarkets will carry clear plastic keyboard covers which suit this purpose. Look for those marked Kosher for Passover.

If you consume hot liquid chametz at the computer, such as instant noodles or some types of coffee and hot chocolate, the keyboard must be kashered using hag'ala. Plunge the keyboard in a large pot of boiling hot water for approximately 15 seconds, or until sparks fly. The entire keyboard must be kashered, including the cable. We take no responsibility for the continued functioning of the keyboard after this procedure. If this is not possible, buy a new keyboard for Pesach.

The battle of Kibbutz Regavim

Jewish protester scuffles with Israeli security guards.

Apart from the Melochim but never removed

Transcriber writes via email:
A friend sent me something from you that he read and asked if I would respond. I agreed, but with reservations and great trepidation. First, let me say that in keeping with the t'konas of our Rabbonim, I don't use the internet. I do, however, use e-mail at work. Therefore, I only know what he showed me. You apparently indicated a sincere interest in the Melochim and it is to you, then, I address this.

One said that:

"His son Reb Zalman had partial access to this messorah but was far removed from the M'Lochim and their world. Rabbis Schorr and Yablac"h- Weberman are Americans from non-Chabad families who picked up tidbits from the Malach but remember the Malach lived in the Bronx not near Torah VeDaath. So the M'lochim are just a book form of Lubavitch."

This is simply, in the main, not true. I learned alone with the Malach's son, R' R. Zalman, from when I was 17 until he was nifter, for 25 years or more. Indeed, he was apart from the Melochim but never removed. In fact, he introduced me to the Melochim and had them welcome me into their midst. Many times I sat with him and those who came from Brooklyn, Monsey and Kiryas Yoe-l to meet with him. His teachings and these sterling individuals changed the direction of my life. Similarly, the Malach was Yosef Yitzchok's tutor and part of the inner-circle of Lubavitch. He gave that learning directly over to his talmidim, including the Americans he's referring to: R' Shorr and my Rov, R' Meir Weberman. That, I believe, constitutes a mesorah.

One of the reasons I agreed to write to you is that I believe the Melochim have something great to offer the world and am just sick that it is being allowed to disappear. I have hundreds of tapes of myses of the Rov, the Malach, and am transcribing them little by little. Most come from my shirum with his son, but I've secretly taped many of the Melochim, as well. Of those I've transcribed and copyrighted, I've attached a couple that might give a tiny feel of what the Melochim are, why they resist increasing their numbers, and who the Malach was. The Malach refused all publicity and I ask you to keep them confidential.

Given the above, I doubt you will ever see uforatzto by the Melochim; one must persevere to get to their door. They do have a melava malka as close to Yud Tes Kislev as possible and all are welcomed. Now, however, my fingers are weary and I'll stop typing.

mentalblog.com links

Yahoo! News: Jewish community emerges from hiding in Portugal after 500 years.
Bellaonline: Kazimierz � Krakow�s Jewish District is revived - Polish Culture.
Yahoo! News: Blogging from prisons in USA. Example: Why is Keith Maydak in Jail?

How much can a Jewish mother of 8 earn?

Marinus van REYMERSWAELE, Money-Changer and his Wife, 1539, Museo del Prado, Madrid

Commenting to my interview with Karl Marx Berl of Crown Heights writes:
Do not forget that in addition to having more advanced secular education, most Modern Orthodox practice severe birth control (at least as compared to average "charedi" couples) and thus not only have less children to support, but are also more likely to have 2-income households. I know quite a few "charedi" heads of household that hold what would be normally considered well paying jobs and still barely "making ends meet". A guy earning a respectable 100K (before taxes) simply can't support 8 kids + wife + house in Brooklyn with ~40K going toward Yeshiva tuitions. And what is there to say for a guy making 75K (also a decent pay)???? Good professional education is simply not enough to support the cost of the current "charedi" lifestyle. And I honestly do not see how this can continue without some very serious communal intervention - and soon! If you want to talk about kids being disillusioned, growing up in poverty is a major contributing factor for sure. I have heard quite a few first-hand accounts of kids saying to their impoverished parents: "I do not want to live like you when I grow up..."

I would even venture to say that the "charedi" community attitudes about spending & lifestyle are more self-destructive than simple "materialism". I have been thinking about this for a long time and will try to write more on this later. Permit me for now to finish my original point. A well-paid professional "charedi" head of household, even if his head is "screwed on right" about money & spending (i.e. he does not feel that a new hat for is "a must" ) simply can�t afford to pay even for a very modest lifestyle. For a guy like that (~100K before taxes with 8 kids) tuitions will not be a cent under 40K, and that is after all the "breaks" (even in Lubavitch!). Now you tell me, what is left (after taxes & tuitions) to pay for housing, clothing, food, etc for a family of 10? If his wife does not work � he is flat out of luck. And how much can a mother of 8 earn?

There only 3 ways to maintain this lifestyle:
1. Be a successful businessman.
2. Have a cash job and be on all the "programs"
3. Best of all - combine "1" & "2"!
Anyone still wonder why yungelite after kolel do not break down the doors of universities in rush to become lawyers or financial analysts?

Specious claims

Responding to my post JTA plagiarized mentalblog.com JTA editor Peter Ephross writes:

I am the JTA editor who edited the story that Tzemach says was plagiarized. We did no such thing. The first line he cites is similar, but I wrote it while editing the piece, and I had never seen his site until Tuesday, after our story went out over our wires. (It did allow me to see his fascinating blog, though, and I�m grateful for that!) As far as the other citations, the only similarities they contain are factual ones that Rabbi Karpov must give any people who interview him. There are only so many ways to say the same thing.

Steven I. Weiss comments on his blog Canonist:

Tzemach Atlas' plagiarism claim was quite specious to begin with, and that pretty much puts the lid on it. Too many J-bloggers are taking too much credit for items in traditional Jewish media reports, which is rather disappointing. It's good to see a blog like Tzemach Atlas doing original reporting, but being too boastful of that reporting, to the point of making specious claims like this one, undercuts the credibility of the blogger and upholds that of the reporter.

The reporter of the JTA story was Lev Krichevsky but I spoke to Peter on the phone on Tuesday. From the tone of his voice I am pretty sure that he indeed did not know about my blog before I called him. On Thursday I asked Rabbi Karpov about this similarity and he just chuckled and said that his interview with Lev Krichevsky was conducted on the phone and that indeed there is a possibility that he told us both the same thing.

Let's take the first example of the alleged plagiarism. The phrase "congregation from scratch" appeared in both interviews. It is important to remember that both interviews were conducted in Russian. The word Congregation is an English translation of what is in Russian a Synagoga or Obshina (community). And indeed the original story by Walter Ruby translated the name three different ways Shul, Synagogue and Congregation. So I and Lev or Peter all decided to use the same term "Congregation". So far so good. Now comes the scratch. This is unique English expression and similarly to "touching a base" is a metaphorical translation. It is possible that we both came up with this "scratch". But I was thinking about this story intensely when I wrote it and I even remember where this word popped into my head in relationship to this story. I was walking on the bridge over Fort Point Channel towards the Hook Lobster Market.

Next example was "50-60 people on Shabbos" versus "50-60 people to its Saturday morning services". During my interview with Karpov he actually said 50-60 people, "noshim, anoshim v taf" (men, children and women). It is possible that Lev and I used the same shorthand.

My last example brought up in the original post is actually from my telephone conversation with Karpov�s wife Nadia. Again it is possible that Karpov himself said the same thing to JAT reporter as his wife to me but the coincidental probability is rather amazing.

I wish much success to Lev and Peter because in the bigger scheme of things I don�t mind if they take what I wrote without attribution as long as this important story sees the light of day. Nevertheless if you Steven I. Weiss or anyone reads this unusually similar translation you might come to the same conclusion as I did. During my telephone conversation with Peter he said that he was going to ask Lev if he read my interview with R. Karpov before he filed the story from Moscow and before Peter edited it. I would be curios to know.

COL plagiarized Yehoshua's Blog

I am still waiting for a response from JTA. But this is just in. COL has reported the visit of HaRav Gavriel Tzinner to the Yeshiva in Morristown -- thanks to the information found on this blog.

Kaddish for the Pope in Temple Emanuel

I was able to confirm what was reported by one of the commentators to the P-pe of pop post. A rabbi in Temple Emanuel, a conservative congregation in Newton, MA said a sermon in memory of the Pope past Shabbos, he concluded the sermon with a Kaddish to which he also invited his congregation.

The muse

The muse says: The youthful travelers come to me with fallen spirits and restless anticipation. I gift them with light and I reward them with hidden treasures. Some of them fall in the journey and never reach me. But now I have not seen any reckless Jewish youths, they abandoned my gifts for the extract of the slumbering root. They know no sadness of joy and they stopped following the path to my palace illuminated by the pensive moon.

Festering rivalry in Prague bursts into open with violence on Shabbat

JTA NEWS: The rabbi of the famed Old-New Synagogue, Manis Barash, was conducting Shabbat services Saturday and was displeased to find that Karol Sidon, chief rabbi for the Czech Federation of Jewish Communities, was offered an aliyah to the Torah by the synagogues�s gabbai, according to observers.: "Soon the incident erupted into violence, leaving several people injured and at least one considering criminal charges."

Tzemach Atlas interviews Karl Marx about nepotism

TA: Reb Karl, did you read our recent discussion about nepotism?
KM: Yes, with great interest. Could you please explain to me the economic differences between Modern Orthodox and Charedi communities?

TA: MOs are exposed to the world. Virtually all have advanced secular education and are fluent in technological advances of our society. In the Charedi world because of the ideological restrictions many are not prepared to enter the labor force of the information age.

KM: Now I understand why one of your readers mentioned �Lakewood where every Rosh is a Kotler family member�. Lakewood is at the epicenter of the movement that considers every activity outside of learning Torah a waste of human endeavor. It is natural for such a family to preach to the masses that they have to place themselves outside of the productive society. But why, Tzemach, other Charedi families look at Schools as a family business?

TA: I think this is a result of not having any alternative for the employment. For these families this is literally a matter of life. MO families have other options and you rarely see one family dominate an educational institution but for the Charedi families this is the only choice. I also believe many of them feel insecure about their ability to run sophisticated schools. They try to protect themselves by authoritarian intimidation. They hide the lack of managerial skills by claiming that they were appointed to the role by the Higher Authority.

KM: So why not get the masses involved, and elect boards (we call them soviets) that can help in managing the Scholls?

TA: I am not sure a soviet (board) is such a good idea. For example I have seen many MO institutions that are governed by the boards. The people who sit on these boards are often rich but unenlightened. I believe you call them petty-bourgeoisie. Many Rabbis are employed by these boards. They are afraid to rebuke their capitalist employers and certainly are not able to perform their functions for fear of dismissal. You might say that they have nothing to lose but their chains. Their working conditions are terrible.

KM: I think you have a capitalistic society that is allegedly based on self interest, correct? Then one can say that there is diffence between a board in a Synagogue and board in a School.

TA: Why?

KM: A Synagogue has mainly a ceremonial function so the congregants prefer not to be disciplined. A Scholl is just the opposite, most parents have an interest in their kids being disciplined. If the members of the school board have their own kids in a Scholl it would be logical to assume that their advice will be commensurate with their interest.

TA: So what do you recommend?

KM: I noticed that all MO and some Charedi Jews pay their taxes. The taxes are used for transportation, building, salaries, etc. in public schools. I don�t see how you can maintain a vital educational institution with such a meager financial base as the Jewish Schools. I also noticed that my communist brothers in ADL are working against the Jewish schools by opposing vouchers. I can predict total collapse of the Jewish school system in the near future. I can only hope that world communist revolution will put the end to this misery once and for all!

TA: Amen, Reb Karl! Thank you for your time.

JTA plagiarized mentalblog.com

Our interview with Rabbi David Karpov, a Shaliyach in Otradnoe, Moscow was published on March 31st.
JTA article about Rabbi Dovid Karpov, Russian Shul takeover leads to squabble in Jewish community was published on April 11th.

mentalblog.com: "We built this congregation from scratch."
JTA: "Since then, Karpov, now 48, has created a congregation from scratch."
mentalblog.com: "We have a daily Minyan and we have 50-60 people on Shabbos."
JTA: "The synagogue now offers a variety of religious and social activities, attracting 50-60 people to its Saturday morning services."
mentalblog.com: "the Synagogue was ready for the taking. Nobody wanted the building at the time, not Lazar or anyone else except David who took it and started this congregation Darkei Shalom."
JTA: "When the synagogue was completed and offered free to Jewish organizations, none of the major groups in the community were interested in the financial burden associated with running a new synagogue in a remote neighborhood. Rabbi David Karpov, a Moscow-born Chabadnik, accepted the offer."

What it all boils down to is that the license on this blog allows people to copy the material on one simple condition that the source is attributed. I don't claim to be a professional reporter but I know that it is hard to find similar level of discourse about our subject on any official venue. Yet the "organized" media reads our blogs, gets ideas and gets inspired by our blogs but fails to acknowledge our existence. I am awaiting an explanation from JTA.

Binyan adei ad or a problem of nepotism

Schneur Zalman of NY commenst:
This issue is not only a Lubavitcher problem, it crosses denominational lines. In the main it is a problem in the Charedi world. That is "ownership" of Mosdoth. In the Modern orthodox world schools are run by boards that hire and fire management. Thus Yeshiva University has a board. Neither Dr. Belkin, Dr. Lamm nor Rav Soloveitchik owned the school. They had influence but did not own the institution. In the huge institution that is YU, today only one relative of the Rav is on the faculty! The same is true with old line American schools such as Yeshiva Tora VeDaas and some others.

Kovno Talmud Teyre before the War.

Other schools not privately held include Yeshivath Rabbi Samson R. Hirsch administered by the Breuer's Kehilla. Manhattan Day School, Ramaz School, Yeshiva of Flatbush and Hebrew theological College in Skokie.

Examples of schools run by families are the MIR in Brooklyn, Lakewood, (every Rosh is a Kotler family member like having every professor at Columbia related to Pres. Bollinger) Ner Israel (run by the Neuberger family) Telz (various personalities belonging to the Bloch clan) Torah Temimah (Lipa Margulies) and almost all other Charedi schools.

Problems arise when the strongman dies and various family members compete for power. Currently Telz in Ohio has such a power struggle resulting in Rabbi Soretskin one of the best magide shiur in the American Bnai Tora world relocating to lakewood, NJ. Problems also arise when naive baal habatim think that the Potamkin boards that exist in these schools have power. Then one has a real struggle.

Charedim in general do not believe in democracy. Schools and yeshivas, etc. are run like a business as if they were a supermarket run by one family. That�s the business of Torah. Chabad is in a bad position because it runs schools in non Charedi areas for non Charedim who usually look at schools as public or corporate entities. Most such people can not understand why one family occupies all the leadership jobs and in some cases all the jobs period.

I am not blaming Chabad for failures in any towns; rather the nepotism has resulted in poor leadership, poor educational policies and the running of the school as a private fiefdom. While the Rebbe was alive he seemed to avoid getting involved in these schools even when he received numerous complaints about the way they were managed. Go explain it. Of course we may blame it on the �Minister of education� in Latvia...
-Schneur

The Lubavitch institutions in New England

Schneur Zalman of NY commenst:
The Lubavitch institutions in New England established in the late 1940's are all currently run by one family each. Worcester by Fogelman, Springfield by Edelman, New Haven by Hecht. And I suppose Boston by Ciment (what happened to the long term principal Rabbi Kastel?) Worcester has a declining Jewish population, and after 50 years there, Rabbi Fogelman and his school have clearly had little effect on the nature of the community.

Springfield has a community day school which has out shadowed the Lubavitch School. Boston is described by our host. Bridgeport CT Lubavitch is all most non existent again run by one family, the Hoisens. Currently the community has a day school which is doing well. The Lubavitch "center" is a small town with little influence on the general Fairfield County community.

New Haven Lubavitch School has been run by one family since 1948, the Hecht family. The school has been out paced by a Conservative day school which has more students and is run by a board. After 50 years in business the Lubavitch School in New haven has had almost no impact on NH which has an Orthodox community in steep decline. The growing Lubavitch community there (while the rest of the Orthodox community is rapidly disintegrating) is contemplating starting its own Cheder there as the Hecht school is coed and not exactly geared to teaching texts the way real Anash desire for their kids.

In all these places the school is run by one family, nepotism is rampant. The board of directors is a fiction. Leadership is inherited. Qualified educational leaders are rarely in place. On the other hand places like Stamford, CT, Boston (Maimonides School) Hartford Ct and Fairfield CT all have very successful Modern Orthodox day schools administered by a board of laymen with local rabbinical input. Perhaps democracy should be contemplated by Lubavitch as a way of contributing both to the Jewish community in general and for the good of the few remaining schools in the Northeast they still run.

While Simon Jacobson in his well spoken manner praises the system the Rebbe left in place after his demise, perhaps Rabbi Jacobson should actually travel about and check the Maztav hayahaduth (the state of Yiddishkeyt) out in various cities and see the effect nepotism has on this situation.

None of these schools were created as Lubavitcher schools as such. They had a Lubavitcher leadership, but were designed for the general community which in most cases was non orthodox. These schools were created with the cooperation of non Lubavitcher lay leaders and local orthodox rabbis. They were coed; they had English in the morning and other such non Chasidic practices. Indeed in the early years leadership did change as Rabbis Hecht and Fogelman changed places and others changed too. Clearly the Rayaatz did not give these people franchises ad sof kol hadeyres. (That the Czar gave in terms of citizenship to all Schneersohns and their male descendants see my article in an early issue of the Chasidic Historical Review).

By the way I am not suggesting that Chabad give up control of these schools only that nepotism is halted and accountability be enacted. In New Haven, CT some changes in that direction has taken place and hopefully more will in the future. As one who attended a Lubavitch school in New Haven, please note the following the school was co-ed, grades 1-8 and still is. One half of the classes take English subjects in the morning. There was a constant stream of letters from various people in NH to the office of Rabbi M. Schneersohn in Brooklyn complaining of how the school was run by a chasid who titled himself Rabbi Dr. .... The Rebbe never got involved in this. When the rabbi "Dr." passed on years later, the Rebbe was maspid him very emotionally ... on Shaabbes in one of his sichos, this with mixed classes, and secular studies in the morning and numerous other issues. Oh well.

Another interesting discussion would be failed Lubavitcher yeshivoth in places such as upstate NY, Bridgeport, CT, the Bronx, NY and Chicago, IL (in the 1940's). I also believe there was a Chabad school in Providence. Is the Lubavitcher yeshiva on Ocean Pkwy still a functioning school?

berl, crown heigths comments:
"Perhaps democracy should be contemplated by Lubavitch." I believe it to be inevitable. Though there is going to be much resistance, as there was even to the election of the CH Beith Din in 1986, despite the explicit support of the Rebbe.

United States of Lubavitch in Boston

Readers of mentalblog.com comment to Marc Oster vs. New England Hebrew Academy:
Global Atlas writes:
Rabbi Haim Prus had to get permission from Rabbi Chaim Ciment to go to Boston on Shlichut, however R. Prus feels that since he opened up the first Chabad HOUSE he is the Head Shliach, but he got into a fight with Rabbi Yudel Krinsky so he is definitely not recognized as Head Shliach.

Rabbi Mendy Uminer of Chesnut Hill.

Lubavitcher Bochur writes:
Rabbi Chaim Ciment was sent by the Frierdiker Rebbe.
Rabbi Chaim Prus was sent by the Rebbe, but because of fight with Yudel, he is off the list, and he opened up a new center in Newton (Recently, Krinsky sent R. Moishe Lieberman to open an "official" Chabad House in Newton)
Rabbi Shayke Lerner (TA note: R. Chaim Prus� son in law) was sent by Chaim Prus to Brookline (and recently Krinsky sent Mayshe Schwartz to open an "official" Chabad House in Brookline. (TA note, I heard that Mayshe is the son of he famous BT Shliyah from CA, long persecuted by S. Cunin)
Rabbi Rachmiel Lieberman opened up a "Congregation Lubavitch" in Chestnut Hill, and he was never approved by any authority (he also runs a Hechsher).
There was a Lubavitcher Yeshiva in Boston, but because of Machlokes between Lieberman & Mintz it didnt last.
And lest we forget, that Zalman Schechter was also a Shliach in Boston in the 1950's.
A view of the tens(!) of Mosdos surrounding Boston. (Note that the list conspicuously omits R. Shayke Lerner, photographed below and R. Chaim Prus)

(I took both picutres of Shayke and Mendy at Matisyahu concert in New Jew)

Marc Oster vs. New England Hebrew Academy

New England Hebrew Academy a school established after the WWII in Boston and currently run by the Executive Director Rabbi Chaim Ciment. The school gradually became anemic. New England Hebrew Academy did not have a 5th grade for 10-15 years. About 4 years ago parents decided that "enough is enough", they would like to revive the only Lubavitcher school in Boston. Several children were enrolled in the 1st grade and parents joined the board to play an active role in the revival of the school. One the new board members Dr. Marc Oster insisted on following the corporate bylaws. For example he requested that the board should be elected during an annual meeting herby giving it a real representation. Rabbi Ciment refused to call or allow an annual meeting. Subsequently the board was suspended from functioning and this matter ended up in court about 1.5 years ago. The first judge dismissed the case as a �religious matter� (we hope to publish the full decision soon) and currently the case has been pending in the Massachusetts Appellate Court.

This case is representative, as tensions run high where traditional boundaries between communal and private properties appear blurred.

UPDATE: MA Appellate Court rules in favor of the New England Hebrew Academy.

P-pe of pop

I was almost OK with the week long wall to wall coverage, I was barely OK when I saw that they lowered the flags half mast in the Federal Court! in Boston, I was patiently OK with the obsession about this story on bloghead, but I had to draw the line somewhere. And here is where I would like to draw that red line. Below is a photo I took today in front of the conservative Congregation Kehillath Israel in Brookline, MA. The flags are lowered in honor of the pontiff.

Let�s just say that right about now Peter who had two thousands years to do tshuvah is lecturing the rookie that he should have figured it out and worn kipa sruga. He is also showing the polish padre who is the real boss up there. Yehi Ha Melech!

UPDATE: Slate: Papal Power-John Paul II's other legacy. By Christopher Hitchens.

A snapshot of our Chabad Shule

7% - Older Russians Jews who come to the Shule to nurse their nostalgia. Most enjoy shaking hands forcefully after they get aliyas and start singing "lomer ale ineinem" after few shots of vodka during Kiddush. Every three months one of them will get up and scream out of the blue: "This is not why I liberated you from the Nazis!!!"
3% - People who are involved in running of the Shule and might have a financial interest in the undertaking (This is the only group who considers their experience in the shule to be positive). Members of this group love to go up to the bimah and make announcements, they also like to say "so and so asked me to say a few words", a widely accepted signal for the congregants to run for the exits of face a debilitating attack of boredom and/or Shule rage.
10% - People who daven in our Shule in thoughts only.
5% - People who think that Chabad is a dead movement and they do not care if someone screams Yehi or Praise the Lord, they say obscenities under their breath but they still come because of the short walking distance.
8% - Mashichists disconnected from everything around them including our Shule.
49% - Good citizens who have nowhere else to go and would gladly changed places of worship at the first opportunity. Most important reason that prevents them from leaving is that they have a hard time coming up with a plausible story they can tell their kids about why they came to this shule in the first place anyway�
18% - People who developed an addiction to potatoes bathed in mayonnaise served after davening.

mentalblog.com links

My Obiter Dicta: Religious Zionism in Crisis (Part 4)
Frummer: Trooping the Beis Hamikdash
IMRA: Crawford Demonstrators To Rally for Pollard
HaloScan.com - Comments: New information about S.Z. Blesovsky (is it Blesofsky or Blesovsky?)
HaloScan.com - Comments: News Flash From Williamsburg, "Rav Yaakov Meir Schechter of Breslev has NO connection whatsoever to Neturei Karta and shuns politics -- but he has a relative of the SAME NAME who belongs to the NK! This seems to be the source of Reb Schneur's mistake."

LORRAIN CLAUDE, Landscape with the Finding of Moses, 1637-39, Museo del Prado, Madrid

We�ll all live happily ever after

Schneur Zalman of NY suggested Tchebiner family should be asked to accept the Lubavitcher royal crown. In this context the following email exchange seems timely.

West Coast Lubavitcher:
I was informed by a kapote-wearing Englishman with (what by modern Lubavitch movement standards are) slightly heretical leanings (i.e. the Rebbe was human and fallible), that in the 1960�s the Rebbe tried to get one of the Schneerson cousins who had two outstanding sons learning in Tchebin in Israel to send them to the Rebbe, ostensibly to be groomed as potential heirs. According to the tale, their father declined, due to whatever foresight or reasoning.

Tzemach Atlas: Yes, there was a discussion on this blog about Tchebiner here.

West Coast Lubavitcher:
Most interesting conversation and comments, thanks for the link. I�m still not clear if the story is substantiated or not. I�m less interested in potential future Rebbe candidates then I am in the implications of the story in a historical context - if it is indeed true. It would seem to definitively indicate that the Rebbe did give thought � at that time � to matters of succession, which is not something many Lubavitchers � whether messianic or not � are comfortable contemplating. (And while certain topics might be uncomfortable, I personally find it much more enlightening to discuss them and think about them then to ignore them. What I most definitely cannot ignore is my sense of bewilderment and pain regarding the current state of Lubavitch affairs, i.e. �How the *@#% did things end up like this?�)

If it helps put the query in context: if the story is true, I don�t think it means we start lining up outside the Tchebin yeshiva looking for the next Chabad Rebbe. Nor do I necessarily think it conclusively proves that the Rebbe�s ultimate intent was for there to be a successor, a m�male mokom, as the Rebbe was entitled to change his mind, and upon occasion did.

What I think the story would indicate is that the Rebbe himself understood that he was human, subject to the �way of all flesh,� and that point in his life was coming to grips with the fact that he was childless. To me this means that the Rebbe was acknowledging the possibility of multiple potential outcomes to the story arc of his life. I don�t take this to mean that he knew exactly how the book was going to end, rather, it would indicate he understood that the final page had not yet been written. More than that I will leave to others to read into the tale.

What does that mean to us today? My personal (and admittedly ignorant and biased) opinion is that the vast majority of the Lubavitch diaspora are as bewildered and confused as I am. As a movement, we went from a victorious, and seemingly unconquerable, empire on the march, to (as a respondent on your blog put it) the point where Lubavitch is now �entirely disconnected from reality.� My experience has been that the bulk of the Chabadniks I meet, by default have Messianic leanings and cannot seem to fathom a game plan where the Rebbe does not return as the Redeemer. They hold this belief � whether openly, or otherwise - not because it intellectually makes sense (it absolutely does not), nor because the halachic and Talmudic sources support it (once more, they do not), but because they are emotionally bereft and cannot come to grips with the situation. They cannot understand how things ended up as they are, and so they revert to a fantasy existence where �everything will turn out just as it was supposed to,� and in fairy tale terms �we�ll all live happily ever after.�

But if the Tchebiner Yorshim story is true, then as painful as it might be for many to acknowledge, the Rebbe himself knew that fairy tales don�t always come true.

Have a good Shabbos.

P.S. TA: There is an interesting write up in Dei'ah veDibur about HaRav Boruch Shimon Shneerson zt"l, the rosh yeshiva of Kochav MiYaakov--Tchebin in Yerushalayim.

Malochim - if the message is true it will never die

Chabakuk Elisha commenting to the Simon Jacobson as a free marketer post:
Yaakov - Do you think it is logical for Lubavitchers to suddenly reject the last two Rabbeim and join a ridiculous, and dead, group aligned with Satmar? You're off the wall buddy.

Yakov responds:
I really hadn't planned on an extended dialogue over this issue, and in advance let me say that this will be my last post about it. I'm not out to argue or convince; basically I have the same questions and same