Jewish Clergy Sex Abuse: a JTA investigative series

Via the Jewish Standard a preview of tomorrow's stories on Jewish Clergy Sex Abuse: a JTA investigative series.

Three stories that cover a lot of territory on this sordid subject.

Monty Python on the Lubavitcher Rebbe

[In this never-aired Monty Python skit a professor tries to return the Rebbe to 770. The segment concludes with this outburst by the professor.]

'E's not pinin'! 'E's passed on! This rebbe is no more! He has ceased to be! 'E's expired and gone to meet 'is maker! 'E's a stiff! Bereft of life, 'e rests in peace! If you hadn't nailed 'im to the perch 'e'd be pushing up the daisies! 'Is metabolic processes are now 'istory! 'E's off the twig! 'E's kicked the bucket, 'e's shuffled off 'is mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisible!! THIS IS AN EX-REBBE!!

Chabad: A New Religion?

In 1999 this was my op-ed take on the rebbe and the messiah. I agree with it today.

The last official Rebbe of the Lubavitcher Hasidim, Rabbi Menahem Mendel Schneerson, died on June 12, 1994. On Passover 1999 a group of these Orthodox Jewish Hassidim ran a provocative advertisement in a major newspaper referring to their Rebbe, “Long live our lord and master the King Messiah for ever and ever!” The Rebbe lives on, say these believers, and is in fact the Messiah for whom Jews have been waiting for millennia.

By saying and believing these words, this group of Jews has given life to a new religion. Their faith cannot simply be categorized as another sectarian version of Hasidism, of Orthodoxy or even of Judaism. On theological grounds, Judaism has steadfastly maintained a hope and faith in the future redemption of humankind by the Messiah in the Messianic Age to come. What defines Judaism and sets it apart from Christianity and other religions – among many of its major practices and beliefs – is the certainty that the Messiah has not come and that we must await the closure of his coming in our daily lives. I have sometimes mused that this essential belief may be a factor in the somewhat neurotic character of Jewish communal life – a constant edge of expectation stands at the official core of the Judaic religion and pervades its culture.

I have always seriously believed that the expectation of a future Messianic Age has bestowed upon Jews and into Judaism a deep inspiration to survive the darkest hours of history and a pure motivation to strive forward continuously in every way to progress toward that time of salvation – to bring on that redemption.

Theologically then it is contrary to the very essence of Judaism to proclaim and accept that a man who died five years ago is the living Messiah – no matter how exceptional the Rebbe may have been in his life and work. Those who hold fast to that essence – and act on it in their rituals – have formed a new religious system that cannot be classified as a form of Judaism.

How have Jews received the news of this Hasidic phenomenon? Some Jewish thinkers fear that the followers of that great Rebbe are doing him a great disservice by proclaiming on his behalf counter-intuitive statements of religious belief that are antithetical to Judaism. They say that these Hasidim are undoing the Rebbe’s good deeds and sullying the reputation that their own lord and master painstakingly accomplished over the decades of his tireless dedication to his followers.

Others Jewish spokesmen have implored the Hasidim to get their act together lest their enterprise break up into divisions – the messianists versus the anti-messianists – each wing weaker than the former single unified entity.

Whatever paths the Hasidim take, a new religion has been born and formed over the past five years. This has been clear from the moment the first Hasid denied the Rebbe’s death in 1994 and has become ever more lucid in the recent public declarations in advertisements, in their Hasidic singing and in all that these Lubavitcher Hasidim teach.

I think that crafting a new religion a good thing for the Hasidim and for the traditional forms of Judaism that they have left behind. The creativity of a new religious and cultural entity brings excitement and energy to the world – new sparks that may kindle a light of redemption for all who come in contact with it. I extend a warm welcome then to "Chabad Lubavitchism" – a new religion among the many living faiths of the twenty first century.

Rabbi Murdered in the Ukraine

It's out. Professor Michael Stanislawski's A Murder in Lemberg. This new book is best-seller material. Hat tip to Mimi.

True Crime, Religion-Style

by David Klinghoffer, Religion BookLine -- Publishers Weekly, 1/10/2007

For such a slim book, Michael Stanislawski's A Murder in Lemberg: Politics, Religion, and Violence in Modern Jewish History (Feb.) has a lot of surprises in it. A true crime story published by Princeton University Press? That's surprising in itself.

The text itself covers only 130 pages, in which Stanislavski, who teaches Jewish history at Columbia, tells the true story of a liberal Reform rabbi murdered in 1848 in Lemberg, today's Lvov, in the Ukraine. The apparent murderer was a disgruntled Orthodox Jew. Most Jewish readers will assume that the Reform movement, which rejects much of traditional Jewish teaching on theology and practical behavior alike, grew heartily in urbane, genteel Germany but—in Eastern Europe?

Actually, yes, there too. The murder victim at the heart of the story, Rabbi Abraham Kohn, ran a thriving liberal temple in Lemberg.

Stanislawski told RBL how, while drawing on obscure archival material, he was eager to try a new kind of writing, more accessible and popular than his previous books: "Even my wife said, 'This doesn't sound like you. It's understandable!' I think my other books were understandable too, but they were more technical." ....

Tracking back to an odd assortment of blog links

Every now and then we look at where our readers come from. Here are three sources from today - an odd assortment of links to our blog.

1. Google Finance: To our post about the $100 Million Gift to Yeshiva U

2. Blog in Dm: To our mention of the Jewish Standard's piece "Teaneck's Shomer Shabbos Blues Band".

3. Emdashes - the New Yorker Between the Lines: Saying, "So far, I also love Shalom Auslander’s “Playoffs,” which shouldn’t even be described, just read. It’s such good writing, it’s so funny and irreligious and perfect, it made me choke up and grin and want to give him caramels; this guy agrees." So I am to Emily, "this guy."

There are more blogs who sent us readers today, but they are more expected. Thanks to all.

UK Jews Protest Gay Rights Law

If true, and the Guardian generally speaking is not a trusted arbiter of truth, then I must ask why Jewish groups must join with Christian wingnuts to oppose gay rights?

Two opinions in the aforesaid paper rant on the subject. AC Graying says,

And on the subject of Jews: what a disgrace that the stone-agers outside parliament tonight will include a Jewish group. If anyone should be against discrimination of any kind, it is a Jew. Alongside the Jews murdered in Auschwitz were homosexuals, wearing a pink patch where the Jews wore a Star of David. The despairing implication of the fact that Jews are joining Christian and Muslims - the usual standard bearers of intolerance and reaction - in this campaign is that too many people learn too little, never connect the dots, and repeat the ghastly errors of the past, when under the thought-inhibiting influence of such toxins as religious belief.

And one opinionator named Polly Toynbee says, "Outside parliament tonight the intolerance that comes with religion's moral certainty will be on display for all to see."

Christians, Muslims and Jews are all fighting against the sexual orientation regulations with a wrecking clause that would render them meaningless: "Nothing in these regulations shall force an individual to act against their conscience or strongly held religious beliefs." Anyone could use their "conscience" to discriminate against gays.

Oh Guardian. Is it not enough that you oppose Israel? Must you oppose all religion? Shame on the protestors and the protestors of the protestors.

The discussion of these opinions by ordinary mortals ensues in the always vividly British "Comment is Free" web site fashion.

Losing your religion in Teaneck: The New Yorker Version

Shalom Auslander, you are a funny writer. In his "Personal History" called "Playoffs" in this week's New Yorker Magazine he describes his typical struggle with Orthodoxy and life in general. "Things you can’t do on the Sabbath," is the subtitle. I don't want to spoil it for you. But I guarantee that some frum people will cry out about the agenda of the magazine. And people from Monsey and Teaneck will decry his depiction of them. He covers the bases in a charming way, from theodicy to the taboos of the Torah.

He's written a book of stories called Beware of GOD and has blurbs on his web site that call him another Philip Roth and tout his anarchic religious sensibilities. And check out the NY Times Magazine for a funny The Funny Pages - True-Life Tales story called "Love Child." His generously link laden web site has more than enough to keep you busy on a shabbos afternoon. Of course you have to print it all out before shabbos.

Run, don't walk, to your newstand and read the story. (Sorry but this one is not online.) Let me know what you think.

How Dr. Lie Uncovered Corporate Option Cheating

Yes the business school professor's real name is Dr. Lie (pronounced Lee - Norwegian). He studied corporate executive stock options and was not satisfied with the prevalent grant timing theory that executives granted themselves options before releasing good news.

So he examined the data and he found evidence of backdating. Now backdating is kinda like asking your stock broker to give you the stock you buy at the lowest price of the year. Here is what Lie says he found:

In a study that I started in 2003 and disseminated in the first half of 2004 and that was published in Management Science in May 2005, I found that stock prices also tend to decrease before the grants. Furthermore, the pre-and post-grant price pattern has intensified over time (see graph below). By the end of the 1990s, the aggregate price pattern had become so pronounced that I thought there was more to the story than just grants being timed before corporate insiders predicted stock prices to increase. This made me think about the possibility that some of the grants had been backdated. I further found that the overall stock market performed worse than what is normal immediately before the grants and better than what is normal immediately after the grants. Unless corporate insiders can predict short-term movements in the stock market, my results provided further evidence in support of the backdating explanation.

The summary posting by Dr. Lie is compelling and clear even to the layman. He finishes with some frequently asked questions that tell us 23% of executive stock option grants between 1996 and 2002 (when the reporting law was changed) were backdated. He also explains why most option cheaters are not caught.

So there are the metrics of our executive business morality. 77% honest. That's one reason why America is a (comparatively) great nation.

Israel Plans 1000 shekel fine on spammers

Kan Naim reports that Israel Plans to impose 1000 shekel (today= $236) fine on spammers who send SMS messages or emails. No proof of damages needed.

ב- sms הקץ למטרידנים - יוזמת שר התקשורת לאפשר פיצוי בגובה של עד 1,000 ₪ על שולח דואר זבל

או לדואר האלקטרוני, ללא צורך בהוכחת נזק, יצאה לדרך

Must have: IDF Tzahal Chess Set

I used to have a renaissance chess set. This one surpasses it by miles. It's the Israel Defense Forces chess set.

The description says:

Sterling Silver IDF Chess Set

A masterpiece unique artisan large 925 sterling silver (NOT silver plated) IDF (Israel Defense Force) chess set. Comprised of 32 highly detailed and outstanding IDF related pieces representing the various corps in the Israeli defense forces, 16 made of sterling silver (for the white pieces) and 16 made of gilded sterling silver (for the black pieces).

The pawns are designed as soldiers, the rooks are shaped as missile boats, the knights are as mobile gun, the bishops are as patrol jeep, the kings are as combat pilot standing beneath his F-15 and the queens are as queen driving a Merkava tank (the tank is considered to be the queen of the battlefield).

The wooden case is topped by a removable wooden cover, set with a silvered and gilded metal playing board, centered by the IDF logo inscribed in Hebrew "Tzva Haganah Le'Israel" (Israel Defense Force).

This set was made in the electroforming method. An extraordinary set which will amaze any observer, sure to be the highlight of any game or display, and bound to make an excellent gift to any chess lover. Price : $1850.00