"cast me forth into the sea, so shall the sea be calm unto you"
posted by Tzemach Atlas at 10:57 PM
There are rumors circulating on the Internet that Alexander Litvinenko converted to Islam. lgf: Russian Spy Died of Radioactive Poisoning, Converted to Islam? The source of the rumors is Moscow radio station Echo that is owned by, I kid you not, Gazprom.
Reminder that Gazprom is the oil giant formed after the takeover of Yukos and imprisonment of its founder Mikhail Khodorkovsky (see mentalblog.com: Putin to get a medal from Lubavitch in... Auschwitz). Billionaire Leonid Nevzlin, Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s second in command, currently lives in Israel. Nevzlin revealed that Litvinenko visited him two weeks before the radiation poisoning. Report: Poisoned spy visited Israel with oil dossier – Ynetnews: "The Times reports Alexander Litvinenko traveled to Israel just weeks before he died to hand over evidence to Russian billionaire [Leonid Nevzlin] of how agents working for Putin dealt with his enemies running Yukos oil company".
Litvinenko was on the payroll of another Putin’s arch enemy Boris Berezovsky. It appears that the radio station’s rumor about Litvinenko converting to Islam is being planted to buttress the official Russian version that Litvinenko was murdered by the rich émigré Jews who employed him.
Inquiring minds want to know. Why rely on the complicated and dangerous nuclear radiation poisoning while you can kill a person with a sniper shot? When Putin went after Mikhail Khodorkovsky it was a brilliant move to frighten the oligarchs, it signaled that if I (Putin) can take out the biggest amongst you, I can also take care of you. So with the murder of Litvinenko the signal to oligarchs is that despite of the fact that you always anticipate assassination and you protect yourself accordingly with the small armies and careful movements, etc. you do not know how and when I (Putin) can take you out…
posted by Tzemach Atlas at 4:27 PM
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Schneur Zalman of NY commenting to mentalblog.com: Why kill Litvinenko with nuclear radiation?
Reading your blog the last few years has enlightened me in many ways. My parents were White Russian Jews living in Eastern Poland when the War broke out in Sept. 1939 and again in June 1941.While Hitler profoundly shaped their lives, Stalin and his henchman had no influence over their lives. My parents were born and lived in small Lithuanian (White Russian) towns. My mother in a Lithuanian Misnagdishe sviva and my father in a Chabad sviva.
After the War and Concentration camps they came to America. Thus they and thousands of other Holocaust survivors in the US and Israel were influenced by their childhood culture in Poland and Lithuania and their war years spent in Concentration Camps , or as partisans or hiding or in many instances as refugees in Central Asia. From reading this blog I see that the Soviet culture - including politics, language, music, Art, urban life, Russian culture, etc etc all influenced those Jews who lived in the USSR certainly those who lived there until the 1970's . Their mother lode was not the shtetel, rather the new Soviet culture.
This seems to be true of Lubavitch too. Older Anash like Rabbis Dworkin, Futterfass, Duchman etc still remembered the shtetel and that was their chief influence. Certainly that was true of the 6th Rebbe (the 7th Rebbe was also influenced by Western ideas). But most Lubavitchers born after the Revolution were influenced by the new Soviet man, even if they did not attend Soviet schools. I can not relate to that way of thinking, acting and frame of reference. By that I mean that I have no idea what that all about. We the Second generation is influenced by American ideas rather than the Soviet new Man culture.
Thus unlike the rest of the Chassidic Charedi world like Satmar, Bobov, Ger, Belz whose frame of reference is the shtetel and the Holocaust, the reference point and chief cultural transmitter of most older Lubavitcher today of Russian descent is not the shtetel of their parents but the New Soviet Man. That’s all very interesting and important to understand present day Lubavitch especially those who grew up in such homes.
posted by Tzemach Atlas at 12:42 PM
posted by Tzemach Atlas at 10:18 AM
New York Times: An Ancient Computer Surprises Scientists. "It seems clear, Dr. Charette said, that "much of the mind-boggling technological sophistication available in some parts of the Hellenistic and Greco-Roman world was simply not transmitted further," adding, "The gear-wheel, in this case, had to be reinvented." (via Chabakuk Elisha) See also wired: Gear Factor: Imaging the Antikythera Computer.
posted by Tzemach Atlas at 8:31 AM
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In American libel law, he explained, "truth is an absolute defense," whereas the prohibition against loshon hora concerns accurate information. And when it comes to public figures, even outright untruths are protected by American law, as long as "actual malice" cannot be proven. How "diametrically opposed," observed Rabbi Zwiebel, is the halachic attitude toward the slander of Torah leaders, which is considered an especially grievous sin. Indeed, he noted, halochoh requires that talmidei chachomim be judged favorably even in situations where other people may not be entitled to the benefit of the doubt.Bastards, all of them... Hirhurim: Agudah on Blogs II.
posted by Tzemach Atlas at 6:00 PM
CNN: The fall of America's meanest law firm. Milberg Weiss, the lawsuit factory that took corporations for $45 billion, is in the feds' cross hairs. Fortune's Peter Elkind reports on the saga. Milberg Weiss indicted for allegedly paying $11.4M kickbacks.
CNN: Spitzer settles with several in Brooklyn mortgage fraud ring. NY attorney general says mortgage fraud ring ruined credit of minority homebuyers while profiting handsomely from scam. Four defendants - Isaac Katz, Yoel Silberstein, Shaya Saks and Theodore Welz, all of Brooklyn - agreed to settle by paying nearly $1.8 million to help compensate victims and accepting increased oversight of, or restrictions on, their activities. Spitzer is seeking fines, restitution and other penalties from the other defendants.
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On the subject: mentalblog.com: Israel turns to Asia, forgets about Vitebsk: Asian influences on Israel and the dissonance it creates with Western Centric Diaspora is big, no make it huge subject. I think it is mistakenly pegged by Tony Montana as hippiesm. It relates to hippies only in as mush as they themselves nurtured form the nonlinear Indian tradition in the sixties. But the Israeli influences go independently to the source unaware of the sixties. Without taking on the cultural dimension of this phenomenon I will present my fashion notes from Israel.
Indian Sari dressing is all about the complimentary hues of color and the free flowing wraps.
Here you see as the introduction of scarves and the matching bandannas as a classic interpretation of Sari dress in Israel plus the native ubiquitous crocs. The color enlivens the traditional frummie denim. The Sari inspired style is the de facto fashion of Israel today.
Bottom is always layered. It is a skirt over skirt or skirt over pants. My personal favorite not illustrated here is skirts over bell bottom pants. I am crazy about that style. Ok, may be it is Hippy after all LOL.
The shtachim look.
The American frummie look one can see from a mile away. It is bland, boring and banal. Keep those Ashkenazi tochases moving right along please…
It is not only dress but the culture of nomadic far away trips. The two 17 year olds from the North came for Sukkot to Jerusalem. They shared cigarettes and camaraderie with fellow travelers on the streets. But hear this, Moroccan on the left was going to Tzfat for Simchat Tora because of the nice 'tefilot' there. The dreamy Ashkenazy on the right spoke about music. Both were going to hike and hour to a shule at the Rova where they can hear an all night lectures for Hoshano Rabo. The West meets East in Jerusalem.
More on this later...
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Gandalin commenting to mentalblog.com: Sholom Keller remembers:
The haskolah historians allege that Chassidism arose in Europe as one part of a process involving the crushing disappointment of the collapse of the Shabsai Tzvi messhiahship (and the chmielnicki -yimach shmo- pogroms). The haskalah itself was another reaction, and Gershom Scholem often hinted that the leading lights of the Jewish enlightenment and the Reform Movement originated in (disappointed) Shabsai Tzvi-ist families. The torture of living through the experience of a failed messiah is something that this generation now knows more about. The classic psychological text is "When Prophecy Fails" about a science fiction cult. The author originated the concept of "cognitive dissonance" -- still one of the most useful concepts for explaining human behavior that I know of.
FILE: mentalblog.com's bookmarks tagged with "Gandalin" on del.icio.us
posted by Tzemach Atlas at 9:23 PM
posted by Tzemach Atlas at 8:22 PM
1. Mayshe thinks Dan is cute and fuzzy.
2. Mayshe thinks he can beat Dan in the Special Olympics Sumo Wrestling.
3. Mayshe thinks Dan would be a good havrusa for Hebrew as a second language course at the local Y.
4. Mayshe hopes Dan can show him his favorite pawn move.
5. Mayshe hopes Dan can mentor him on how to run a financially rewarding proctology screening at CJP.
posted by Tzemach Atlas at 6:17 PM
A certain racist and homophobic psycho-religious-bitch, henceforth to be known as "my mother", is the epitome of this type of woman. In fact, I shall coin a term for the "Neshei Chabad" types, they are the tambourine-bangers. I'm certain that you will find this to be an appropriate slur.FILE: mentalblog.com's bookmarks tagged with "Sholom.Keller" on del.icio.us
posted by Tzemach Atlas at 9:28 PM
Yahoo: Jewish school smashed up in Vienna, Austria. Head of Lauder Chabad School in Vienna Jacob Biderman and the head of the Austrian Jewish Community Ariel Muzicant stand in front of destroyed windows at Lauda Chabad School in Vienna November 26, 2006. A Croatian man claiming to be Adolf Hitler attacked the centre, police said.
posted by Tzemach Atlas at 9:06 PM
Alexander Men was a Jew, he was a Russian Orthodox priest and theologian, biblical scholar and writer. He was murdered early on Sunday morning, 9 September 1990 by an ax-wielding assailant just outside his home of Semkhoz, Russia. He was canonized as a Saint in 2001 by the Russian Orthodox Church.
The reason I mention Men on this blog is because he was the person of enormous courage and influence during the dark Brezhnev era. I used to hate him with a passion because of the extraordinary number of Jewish intellectuals who looked up to him spiritually, many of them converted. It is also true that a significant number of Jews influenced by Men eventually found its way back to Torah. I would not name them but I know a few who are now in the position of Jewish leadership. Pound for pound the Jewish Saint Men can compete with any Chabad house in the world for the number of the kindled Jewish souls.
Wikipedia: Alexander Men.
Yakov Krotov archive in Russian, including the fascinating minutes of Yaakov interrogation after Men’s murder.
posted by Tzemach Atlas at 4:06 PM
I think the notion of
The words בראשית יב ה ) ואת הנפש אשר עשו ), are rendered by Onkolus as וית נפשתא דשעבידו לאוריתא - "...and the souls that they enslaved to The Teaching (Teiroh)". Onkolus goes out of his way to use extra words and does not say די גירו – "that they converted" (which is how Targum Yonason ben Uziel translates this piece). The simple reason behind Onkolus
The Midrosh (brought here by Rashi as the source of the drash) says that because Avrom and Sorai were converting these souls, "the posuk gives them credit as if (as if!) they actually made them." In other words in Rashi
Now, the word עשה itself is very strange in that is bares two opposite translations (that is, besides the usual translations of
So which is it?
Is it about a forceful mentoring, a cultish kind of
Is it about very involved careful
Maybe
posted by Tzemach Atlas at 6:55 AM
New York Times: Very Rich Are Leaving the Merely Rich Behind.
posted by Tzemach Atlas at 8:40 PM
There was this puff piece published in Kfar Chabad before the Kinnus. Could the readers tell us what is the going rate for such articles from the Israeli magazine? Having the familiarity with the subject I don't have the patience to read the entire Pravda inspired advertisement but for the benefit of the readers I will translate just a paragraph under the heading "The Rav than understands Einstein", Page 42, right column, third paragraph:
"In order to attract Russian Jews to the Chabad school he [Dan Rodkin] relied on his experience that served him and his talented friends well in Moscow. Till the sixth grade there was not a teacher who was better than me in mathematics [says Dan Rodkin]. Because I knew better that the teachers they send me to a school for the specially talented students. Several hours a day I played chess and was one the strongest chess players in Moscow. In education they usually help only the weak pupils. But I was able to think numbers and solve problems in three seconds so I was bored in my classes. Albert Einstein also had problems in his school, he couldn't adjust to the teachers. I understand Albert Einstein, says the Rabbi who excelled in Mathematics Olympics in Moscow in 1989."
posted by Tzemach Atlas at 8:12 PM
I Nathaniel Popper just young and stupid or perhaps he is aiming to be the official Jewish MSM puff master? WSJ: The End of the Opposition, Russian Jews used to be a voice of dissent. Not anymore: "Russia is not ready for a Democratic or Republican or liberal Jewish coalition," said Rabbi Berel Lazar, the chief rabbi of Russia and Mr. Putin's closest friend in the Jewish leadership. "Russia is a different mindset--a different history, different tradition. In Russia, Jews should not be involved in politics."
posted by Tzemach Atlas at 7:04 PM
On the subject of mentalblog.com: Where they import the culture is right into their minds and hearts and mentalblog.com: Deep Cover in Gansta Crown Heights:
Coulda wrote a book with a title "Age 12 and Goin through Hell"
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Now that we have determined that this phenomenon is going back decades, could someone please explain to me why some Rosh Yeshiva of Torah Temimah would be that different from the Lubavitcher Rebbe in closing his eyes on the spiritual molestation and ignoring reports of the spiritual molestation in institutions under his name? The Kotzker defense will not do this time; the wounds are too fresh and glaring.
P.S. I hate to point to the elephant in the room but this "instant redemption" thingy wasn�t a wet dream by the geniuses like A. Lipsker. And let me say this. The readers of this blog know that I have complained about the silence and numbness of the Rebbe, finish this sentence� Talking about an ESTP engineer booting up the electrical shock machine and then, after realizing that this one will not jerk the 'Monster Mash'... The telephone number is not listed.
posted by Tzemach Atlas at 3:07 PM
posted by Tzemach Atlas at 9:22 AM
Friends, do not think that the comparison to sexual abuse when speaking of meshichist indoctrination is just a way of invoking inflammatory rhetoric. I mean it literally and unequivocally. The molestor/victim relationship and trauma are not mere analogies for the meshichist indoctrinator and his mushpoim. Both are abuse, plain and simple. Both are the betrayal of innocence by a selfish, frustrated abuser. Make no mistake... W., A.L. et al. are abusers. Real, actual abusers. And there is a generation of thousands (!) of victims of intense spiritual, emotional and mental molestation wandering shell-shocked through our every institution.
But we, like any community of decent, bashful people, cannot accept the horrifying truth. It's too much to confront. Jewish children have been abused right in front of our eyes. And we let it happen? Too painful. So we turn a blind eye. It can't be what it looks like. We see the carnage, but pretend it's not there. How can we accept that we have allowed molestors to operate for years (in some cases, decades) with impunity as they spiritually murder thousands of victims. It's all just too horrible to be true.
So we laugh it off with a smirk. "Oh, you know, bocherim were always hot-headed. I remember in my days in 770..." or "These Israeli baalei teshuvah never saw the Rebbe, and look how passionate they are. We should only be so inspired..."
The horror! The horror! The yellow firestorm that rages from Tzfas to 770 is not ideological enthusiasm. It is the heat of the anger and shame of victimhood.
The entire script is posted on mentalblog.com: Indoctrination and intimacy.
posted by Tzemach Atlas at 6:48 AM
To describe the monster-making in less mythical terms, one could say that the meshichist indoctrinator who is incapable of genuine intimacy fits the profile of a sexual abuser and the trauma experienced by the mushpoh is that of the victim of sexual abuse.
It is human to seek closeness and acceptance. The molestor (the seducing kind who's the next door neighbor or teacher or uncle, not the kidnapping kind which is statistically nearly non-existent) takes advantage of the fact that the child wants love. He wants a bigger person to tell him what is good and give him praise for doing what he says. He enjoys the attention. On some very basic level, it manages to meet his human need for intimacy, a need to which we are all vulnerable. The abuser, however, does not seek intimacy. He is incapable of it. He knows only the shallow gratification of the user-victim relationship.
Now, we have this poor kid, the victim of a psycho-spiritual child molestor (apologies to Prof. Jacobson for using his favorite New Age term). The kid has been told that he is being loved and accepted. In his gut, he knows different. But what's harder for the psyche to bear? To accept that you're a victim, or to tell yourself that you liked it, it's fine, and that you'll now go and do it to other people?
I've watched these boys, the empty shells left in the wake of molestors like Wilshansky. I watch them work themselves into a frenzy when reality threatens to pull the cloak off of their terrible, painful secret. When they see a thousand shluchim farbrenging in 770, when they see real sheves achim gam yochad, they realize that they have been abused, that they weren't given anything close to the genuine article. The reality begins to sink in. The pain is too much. "Was I abused? Am I a victim? No! It cannot be! That would be too much pain to bear." Manic frothing at the mouth. Throwing s'forim. Throwing benches. Rage. The pain of victim hood has been submerged for another little while.
The entire script is posted on mentalblog.com: Indoctrination and intimacy.
posted by Tzemach Atlas at 6:46 AM
True to the title of this post, "Indoctrination and Intimacy," the emotional underpinnings of the Dr. Frankenstein - Frankenstein's Monster kiruv relationship derive from an inability to deeply and honestly interact with another human being.
The personality of the meshichist indoctrinator is that of one who is emotionally unavailable for genuine human experiences. He cannot give birth to another Jew, but craves the fulfillment that spiritual fatherhood brings. In absence of the ability to engage in the intimacy that will beget true offspring, he finds a corpse, hooks it up to the electrodes and raises up a Frankenstein's monster, the mindless pseudo-child not born of fruitful union, but rather brought to life through mad scientistry.
As for the poor monster... Six months ago, he was a perfectly happy corpse. He was dead, but at least it was natural. Suddenly, he has been unnaturally disturbed from his slumber by some necromancing quack who now tells him that he is his father. For the love of G-d! The walking undead's body is still cold. No blood flows through his veins. He does not feel or understand. But he moves. He is uncontrollably moving.
Takkeh, to make a baal teshuvah really is techias hameisim. But techias hameisim this ain't. The mashpia who truly revives the dead (rather than just conjuring up an undead monster in the castle laboratory) must "place himself over the child, put his mouth on his mouth, his eyes on his eyes, and his hands on his hands... And the body of the child becomes warm."
The entire script is posted on mentalblog.com: Indoctrination and intimacy.
posted by Tzemach Atlas at 6:44 AM
The meshichist ideology is one that pre-dates the messianic themes of mem"ches (1988). The name meshichism misleadingly implies that this is a movement based on messianic ideology, while in reality, it has more to do with an particular outlook on life in general than any theological subject. However, the name does aptly point out an underlying theme common in the personal belief systems of those people now identified as meshichistin, that of "instant redemption."
The pre-meshichism meshichistin were always fixated on the idea that personal redemption could be achieved instantly. This pronounced itself more than any other way in the baalei teshuvah who were promised that personal redemption could be instantaneous, the implicit (or sometimes explicit) condition being that one would have to accept an untenable discrepancy between artificially accelerated behavioral growth and the much slower and more difficult process of true emotional growth.
Those who pushed the false promise of instant personal redemption taught their followers (perhaps genuinely misunderstanding that this was the bitul spoken of in chasidus) that they must resign themselves to this unnatural gap between external growth and the genuine personal development known in chasidic parlance as "aveido pnimis."
To make a true baal teshuvah, one who has actually emotionally and mentally gone through the teshuvah process and not just taken on easily assumed external affectations, is a process that takes years, even decades. To be mekayim p'ru ur'vu in the spiritual sense of making another Jew demands no less attention, energy and sensitivity than conceiving, giving birth to and raising biological offspring. There is no way to make a Jew in two years, or six months. Ay, but you see for yourself that he has a full beard, puts on two pairs of tefillin and keeps Cholov Yisroel. All you have done is created a Frankenstein's monster, the body moves, but the emotions and mind are that of an infant.
This belief in instant personal redemption of course is easily sloganized into the belief in instant universal redemption known today as yellow Meshichism.
The entire script is posted on mentalblog.com: Indoctrination and intimacy.