Judging the Judges – Part 1: Court of Public Opinion

Author’s note – The new series of posts that I have been writing from after Pesach (starting May11) was originally intended to discuss the issues of Agunahs and recalcitrance. It was inspired by the May 10 post that appeared in Emes V’Emunah concerning a woman named Zvia Gordetsky. The previous two posts were meant to provide the context. Although I still intend to follow through on this subject, I felt compelled to digress and discuss a side issue that is touched upon in that post. This sidetrack grew into a very long post that I must split into two or three parts. Here is part 1.

In the Foreword of my book, I wrote that in the course of my project I am wearing “three uniforms”. This means that I am assuming three types of roles. One is that of an educator, the second is that of a rabbi or preacher, and the third is that of a legal advocate – a defense attorney. Accordingly, most of the blog posts that I have written are in the capacity of at least one of these roles.

Of these roles, I would say the most challenging, and perhaps most fulfilling one, is that of the defense attorney. It is also the least glamorous. The defense attorney defends those that currently stand accused. Even if final judgment has not yet been passed, the accused is usually already seen as guilty in the eyes of the prosecution and, consequently, in the eyes of the spectators. The defense attorney’s job is to sway a public opinion that may already have dried and hardened.

My first and primary “client” is chareidi ideology, behaviors and conventions. Essentially, this was the entire theme of my book. As such, I defended the entire chareidi community (link) after Rabbi Harry Maryles publicly accused us of fomenting “divisiveness” (link). I also defended (link), when he accused us of creating a “world of chumros” (link). I defended the Kollel system (link) after criticisms by Rabbi Harry Maryles (link) and Rabbi Wein (link) about a "dependency class". I defended our approach to geirus (link) during a country-wide outcry after Rav Avraham Sherman nullified the geirus of a woman who never observed any mitzvos whatsoever and challenged the authority of Rav Druckman (link). And, of course, I defended the advent of Mehadrin buses (link) after it had been attacked by almost everybody (link).

I defended individual chareidim or chareidi sympathizers from personal attacks such as defending Rabbi Dovid Orlofsky (link) after being needlessly maligned by Rabbi Maryles (link). Likewise, I defended Rabbi Aharon Feldman, shlita, (link) after his book was criticized by Rabbi Maryles (link) and Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein, Z”L, (link) and I defended an anonymous servant of the Herzeliya rabbanut (link) after an attack by Rabbi Maryles (link). And don’t forget Sar Yaakov Neeman, Z”L (link) – after his speech was criticized by Rabbi Maryles (link). I even defended Bibi Netanyahu‘s child allowance increase (link) after he was criticized by my personal friend, Sam Ser (link).

All pro bono.

Like an honest-to-goodness defense attorney, I even went so far as to “defend” some “indefensible” miscreants such as the callous thug who took on Miriam Shear (link), Elchanan Buzaglo (link), and even one or two accused seksual offenders, on the grounds that the accusations were largely unproven (link).

Trust me, they are all acts of love. As they say in the world of sports: one doesn’t usually score points while on defense.

I do this because, contrary to all appearances, I harbor a tremendous amount of ahavas Yisroel. To understand it better, just check out my “Xenophobia” post.

And I do it for another reason which is exceedingly selfish. I firmly believe that if one makes a career out of being dan l’kaf zechus, then when he goes Upstairs to face din v’cheshbon after his 120 years, he can expect to be handled in a similar fashion. Likewise, for one who makes a career about pointing out the flaws in others, real or imagined, this is, R”L, what he will be met with when his turn comes.

I sure know in what kind of courtroom I would prefer to be when my time comes.

I have noticed in the blogosphere and in the world at large, people are very quick to pass judgment on others. Obviously, “judgment” in this context means pejorative judgment. Everyone who does so feels qualified to do so.

But when a judge condemns a person, what is he doing?

He is proclaiming that the accused should not have done what he is being convicted of doing. The judge is making a statement that if he were in the exact same position, and if he were faced with the exact same trials and tribulations, he would act differently. The judge feels that he is above this kind of behavior so he is entitled to judge the miscreants.

As a rule, I do not feel qualified to judge others. (That’s why I am studying to be a Toen and not a Dayan!) Parshos Yisro gives us a few guidelines on what qualifies a judge. I don’t really meet any of them (especially the “sonei betza” part). And Pirkei Avos gives us some more. One of the main ones is:

אל תדין את חברך עד שתגיע למקומו.

Do not judge your fellow until you stand in his place. This is, until you can stand in his shoes. Until you know where he is coming from.

It is on this basis that I found it so easy to stand up for the alleged miscreants that I have defended. I can see things that others don’t see because I will look where others don’t look.

You see, things look very different when we look at the whole picture. Yet most self-appointed armchair “judges” don’t care to look at the whole picture. They only care to look at what they are shown. In all of the cases that I have dealt with on my blog, the only side to show anything is the accuser; always nothing from the accused. So, a prudent judge ought to promptly recuse himself from passing judgment because he doesn’t really know the whole story. But, this doesn’t seem to happen much on the blogosphere.

We all know there are two sides to every story. I think there are really three sides. There is the accuser’s side, the accused’s side, and there are the “forensics”. The forensics are the details we can learn from external sources such as the physical evidence, the environment, the “scene of the crime” (or lack thereof), or the fact that “you claim that it happened two weeks ago at the ball game but the Yankees were in Kansas City that week!”. It provides the context. There is always some context but, despite this, so many people are ready to pass judgment just on one side. It’s enough for them.

Usually, it’s enough for me as well. Because even when I only hear the accuser tell his (or her) side, when I listen carefully, I usually hear some startling confessions. From the accuser!

So let’s now briefly review some previous episodes and then move on to the new current episode which is the focus of this multi-part post.

Episode 1 – Miriam Shear

One of the earliest battles I took on when I opened this blog in 2008 was to confront Miriam Shear. Miriam Shear, a 50 year old tourist at the time, is a very strong-willed woman and not afraid to stand up (or sit down) for herself. In any case, she was very adamant to ensure that there should be no lasting legacy to the idea of segregated Mehadrin style buses on the Kosel (or any other) line. Unfortunately for her, some other folks (who were actually living in Eretz Yisrael) were equally devoted to upholding the Mehadrin status.

Her mesiras nefesh was put to the test on Nov. 24, 2006 when her resolve escalated into a full scale brawl on the No. 2 Kosel bound netz bus originating in Har Nof.

Her side of the story can be read HERE.

In addition to her claim of complete innocence and to have been wronged and victimized during the incident, she shamelessly alerted the whole world of her plight “after she forwarded an e-mail detailing her experience” as well as stating her case to the secular Israeli media (Haaretz). In this way she was publically accusing her alleged attacker(s) (it started with one person and seemingly escalated to about four). Thus, she propelled the whole issue of draconian Mehadrin buses and chareidi thuggery into the “court of public opinion”.

Understandably, the alleged perpetrator did not turn himself in; so he was tried in absentia. The world predominantly took her side and supported her story and position. As such, the chareidi world and its endeavor to minimize ta’aruves was thoroughly and publicly vilified. Her cause gained the sympathy of numerous righteous Jews such as Rabbi Yaakov Horowitz and RabbiHarry Maryles. We must do away and be apologetic about these “tznius-patrol thugs”!

I judged the story differently. My initial post aimed at pointing out her culpability in the incident can be read HERE.

I wasn’t totally alone. In her follow up post Enough is Enough she mentions that others, albeit a clear minority, echoed the main points of my post:

While the majority of the 3,000+ emails I received were supportive and even congratulatory for my refusal to be bullied by a group of mutineers on a public bus, there were nevertheless a significant enough minority who felt that I had erred for various reasons. The most common was that I should have behaved as a “bas melech Yisrael” and could have avoided all of the ugliness if I would have just been a little more compliant. A few even went so far as to condemn my response to the initial spitting (“you should have just gotten up and moved to the back”).

Perhaps the fact that her email address is (or was): imahawk@aol.com  tipped us off.

Although I also pointed out these “errors” from her own account, she conveniently omits that in addition, she expressly indicated that she was looking for a fight (she calls it a “heated verbal exchange”).

Still, every reader seemed to concede that she was attacked by a group of tznius patrol thugs (“group of mutineers”) who were acting unjustifiably violently regardless of whether or not she was in the right. They are guilty!!

I didn’t agree. Aside from the details that I wrote about in my first post which others also noticed such as: (1) she intentionally chose that seat, (2) she had had altercations in the past and was expecting more (i.e., she was looking for a fight), (3) she ignored the other women who implored her to move to the back and she certainly did not do it of her own accord, etc., all of this from her own account  – I also noticed something else that nobody else seemed to notice.

It’s what I called earlier “forensics” (or "context").

This incident occurred on the No. 2 Kosel bus that is designated for neitz hachama. I am not sure where it was holding on the route but if the bus was relatively empty, it was at one of the earlier stops, but probably not the very beginning. Regardless, this incident definitely occurred at 4:30-5:00 in the morning.

Who is going to be riding the bus to the Kosel at this hour? - some restless tznius-patrol shababniks (mutineers) who are looking for action? At 5:00 am?

Sorry, but these guys don’t start work that early.

Friends, the people who go to the Kosel for neitz on a daily basis are special people. They are very holy Jews. They are very committed to a life of kedusha. They deny themselves earthly comforts (such as a full night’s sleep) to maintain their level of kedusha. They are not violent. These people are no thugs. Please make a note of it.

Now let’s do a little  מגיע למקומו.

Initially, it was a single individual that confronted her. Not a group. She indicated that there were other empty seats. So let’s say the bus was half full and now this fellow comes up and sees a half full bus which is only going to get fuller with all of the women in the back and one lone kitty sitting where the men would like to find seats. Just one.

I am sure there were quite a few empty seats around her because none of the men are going to sit next to her and preferably not behind her or across from her. Thus, she was inadvertently consuming a lot of prime real estate. So, as the bus continues, more men will come and they will not be interested in looking at her. Where are they supposed to sit? Next to her? Across from her? In the back with all the women? She is already forcing the men into very awkward positons.

So now this Israeli sincere neitz-hachama-devoted fellow gets on and takes all of this in. What would you do?

I don’t mean what would you do if you were Rabbi Harry Maryles or Rabbi Yaakov Horowitz. I know what they would do. What would you do if you were a sincere Israeli Yerushalmi Jew, brought up on Yerushalmi principles who is devoted to a life of kedusha and to daven neitz at the Kosel on a daily basis?

Think about it.

One last thing. I wrote a follow up post where I brought up these issues. In that post, I went a step further in the מגיע למקומו department and I speculated for numerous reasons, that this fellow may not have been a Western minded Ashkenazi as is myself along with Rabbis Maryles and Horowitz and most everyone else who surfs the English language Internet. Perhaps he is of Sefardi background where the rules of engagement between men and women are much stricter than ours? Yes, this is mere conjecture, but it is at least even odds. And, if this is so, I posited, what on earth gives Miriam Shear or Rabbis Maryles and Horowitz or myself or anyone else in the blogosphere the right to even attempt to pass judgment (on a very observant Jew) based on our Western standards???

As long as we are not told in the media what this fellow’s background is, it behooves us to take all possibilities into consideration, does it not?

Because, not only are we cautioned from judging our fellow man until we know where he is (מגיע למקומו), we just as much need to know where he’s been – where he’s coming from.

Let’s move on to the next episode.

End of Part 1...

Long Memories: The Deir Yassin Syndrome

כי זוכר כל נשכחות אתה הוא מעולם ואין שכחה לפני כסא כבודיך

The Deir Yassin Syndrome is alive and well at Emes Ve-Emunah.

Definition:

Deir Yassin Syndrome - The tendency of belligerent people to dig up long-forgotten isolated episodes of unruliness with which to malign and defame a group or individual for lack of having anything up-to-date available for this purpose.

(Source - Miriam Webster Hirshman Collegiate Oxford Dictionary of Syndromes and other Psychatric Disorders - Vol IX, page 857)

Does anybody have a clue about what Deir Yassin was?

I didn't think so. Especially because it is a long-forgotten isolated episode.

Deir Yassin was an Arab village situated on a ridge west of Jerusalem overlooking the ancient Tel Aviv-Jerusalem highway before it became the modern Tel Aviv-Jerusalem highway. Prior to the great war in 1948, it was a bit difficult to truck vital goods into Jewish Jerusalem because the Arabs that lived in the villages overlooking the highway, or those who were just visiting, would go sniping at the trucks just for the fun of it. The Jewish militias had to break the siege on Jerusalem and, to do so, they needed to occupy some of those villages.

As one Wiki site put it (thank G-d for copy/paste):

In an effort by the Jewish militias to clear the road to Jerusalem, which was being blockaded by Arab forces, Deir Yassin was attacked and emptied of its inhabitants on April 9, 1948, by 120 Irgun and Lehi forces, reinforced by Haganah troops. The invasion was part of the Haganah's Operation Nachshon. A unit from the Palmach, the Haganah's strike force, took part in the assault using mortars. Around 107 villagers, including women and children, and four Irgun or Lehi men were killed. The incident became known as the Deir Yassin massacre.

There are numerous accounts to exactly what happened, none of them reliable. Any person who was involved, Arab or Jew, Irgun or Haganah has good reason to bend the truth. You can find most of the (alleged) details on the other Wiki site (thank G-d for hyperlinks). The "world" calls it a massacre. We call it a strategic battle. Regardless, it was a bloody mess.

Despite its necessity as a strategic maneuver, it was seen as an act of Jewish agression. Likely, more people died than needed to but the question is: who is to blame for that? Depends who you ask. To some extent it may have been a departure from our more defensive stances. It was certainly no more aggressive than the constant Arab riots and raids that the Jewish Yishuv faced incessantly. It was nothing more than playing the game by "their" rules but, as has always been the case, we are not allowed to play the game by "their" rules.

But, one thing is certain - it was a unique one-time event. It occurred on April 9, 1948 (5 weeks before the Brits finally called it quits) and nothing comparable happened before it or after it. It had a number of positive repercussions - (1) it was a successful attack and (2) it indeed let the Arabs know that this game is for keeps. But it had plenty of negative ones as well. It became the showcase event that we Jews can be just as savage and "atrocious" as our foes and certainly gave the Arabs and their sympathizers grounds for continuing the atrocities that they never seemed to need any grounds for. And, ever since, this event has been molded and melded into the Arab lament of "senseless persecution" and opression at the hands of the Jewish "savages". It has been hailed as the Arab Alamo.

Remember the Alamo! Remember Deir Yassin!

In terms of a showcase event, Deir Yassin had a long shelf life. Whenever Arab sympathizers wanted to portray Jewish "savagery" it was Deir Yassin. Always Deir Yassin. Deir Yassin yesterday and Deir Yassin today. For decades. Always Deir Yassin. Only Deir Yassin.

And why?

Because there is nothing but Deir Yassin. Despite numerous flaws in its claim to savagery, it was always all there was. There was nothing else to point to except Deir Yassin. Nothing else ever happened to prove that Deir Yassin was standard operating procedure. And so, the Deir Yassin debacle has been kept alive on artificial respiration long beyond its life expectancy. Our antagonists have gotten a lot of mileage out of Deir Yassin. It's amazing how far it could go on an empty tank (maybe not, when so many people get out and push) but, eventually, it had to run out of gas. So, more recently, newer "atrocities" had to be fabricated. And so they came up with the al-Dura myth, the Goldstone libel and the flotilla fallacy.

But, it wasn't too long ago, even in the 1990s, that I was still reading, "Remember Deir Yassin". And I would feel a feeling of pride. Even 50 years after the event, our antagonists have nothing more current to defame us with other than the archaic Deir Yassin. ומי כעמך ישראל!

And this is the Deir Yassin Syndrome. When it becomes absolutely imperative to defame somebody and there is no current up-to-date dirt available. And the muck rakers resort to digging up old dirt from an historical era.

I have dealt with this a lot in my second life as a chareidi "apologist". There have been very few incidents of unprovoked violence within the chareidi world, even among the "kanayim". Many of the most celebrated incidents were far from the one-sided wolf vs. sheep stories they are made out to be, just like Deir Yassin. But, being all there is from the slim pickings, they are milked for all they are worth and replayed again and again.

This is the Deir Yassin Syndrome.

Currently, Deir Yassin is a very peaceful place. It is a residential complex for folks who suffer from Deir Yassin Syndrome and other psychiatric disorders. And right next to that is Kfar Shaul (a mental hospital). I prefer to view the Deir Yassin event in the most positive light. Especially because I live there close by. And I am not the only person whose name you can find in the "hashkafa" blogs who has a residence in the Deir Yassin Kfar Shaul Har Nof complex. Among the inmates residents are: Harav Moshe Sternbuch, Shlit"a, Rabbi Moshe Grylak, R' Jonathan Rosenblum, R' Menachem "Manny" Nissel, and... R' Dovid Orlofsky.

And here is where the Deir Yassin Syndrome comes to haunt us.

It is now Ellul 5770 and our self proclaimed failed-Messiah, Rabbi Harry Maryles, needs to redeem his people and feed the frenzied masses that lust for his motzi shem rah macha'ahs. Rabbi Harry Maryles' soul is evidently completely pure, and he has no need for any personal pre Yom HaDin soul-searching. Thus, so as his Ellul should not be a total loss, he has magnanimously decided to devote his Ellul to searching other people's souls. And, for some strange reason, the unfortunate soul that Harry needs to purge belongs to Rabbi Dovid Orlofsky.

It seems that Harry, who does not have a living rebbe to look up to for inspiration, has become a chossid of one who calls his message "Failed Messiah". These two are definitely cut from the same cloth.

Failed Messiah somehow thinks that this is a good time to post some 5 1/2 year old clips that convey some misguided outbursts expressed by Rabbi Orlofsky at the heat of the Slifkin affair. 5 1/2 years ago! Apparently, it is never too late to malign R' Orlofsky and by association, Ohr Somayach, despite the fact that R' Orlofsky is no longer a member of their staff. And, of course, Ellul is the perfect time as Chazal say: תכלה שנה וקללותיה . (Let the year and its afflictions draw to an end.)

And now, Harry, the magnanimous soul-searcher has to alert everybody - based on these 5 year old clips and nothing else (Deir Yassin Syndrome!), what a kellalah Rabbi Orlofsky is. And don't forget Ohr Somayach!

And the King (Elvis Ve-Emunah) and Haman (Failed Messiah) sat down to rake muck, and the city of Deir Yassin Kfar Shaul Har Nof was perplexed.

We just don't get it. What's going on here? These clips are 5 1/2 years old (and I believe they come from the same speech!).

I know Rabbi Orlofsky. I live very close to him. I have attended many of his Motzaei Shabbos shiurim. He is a very passionate person. And it is those passions that have motivated him to devote his life to chinuch and kiruv. There isn't much personal glory in this. I can tell you that. It is absolutely l'shem shamayim. But, strong passions can be a double edged sword, and the same forces that enable a person to be a very effective and inspirational figure can also enable him (or her) to fly off the handle. And it happens to all most of us - on occasion. This is one explanation of what Chazal tell us: כל הגדול מחברו יצרו גדול ממנו.

And when these occasions are rare, it hardly characterizes the person. And if you can't come up with more than one incident to judge by, you can't even be certain that you are evaluating that one incident properly.

Just like Deir Yassin.

Now, I listened to the clips and I also think that they are way over the top. I think many people made mistakes in the course of the Slifkin affair. Some of whom with very long beards. And I also believe that our gedolim can be manipulated. But it's history. It's more than 5 1/2 years. These clips were said by a passionate person in the heat of the moment. And, from what I was told, Rabbi Orlofsky and Rabbi Weinreb have long ago kissed and made up.

But, Harry Maryles (as well as Failed Messiah and Natan Slifkin) has a long memory. And he has a mission to accomplish. We must not be allowed to forget. And sins cannot go unpunished. Yet I wonder:

Have you ever met Rabbi Orlofsky? Of his 100s of hours of taped lectures have you heard a single minute besides the two 5 year old 1.5 minute clips that makes you know everything? What personal connection do you have with Rabbi Orlofsky that it is a mitzvah to destroy him? What vast eternal plan is at stake that it is so necessary to write a post to assassinate the character of somebody who clearly does his work l'shem shamayim even if he has gone overboard on occasion? Harry, you are so good at identifying and broadcasting every current chillul Hashem, why must you resurrect old ones?

What's Harry's justification for the unmitigated Loshon Harah (if not Motzi Shem Rah) that he feels compelled to print in the middle of Ellul 5770? That he's making a macha'ah? For statements expressed 5 years ago and not since?

Has he lost (what's left of) his marbles??

And now, here comes Rabbi Yitzchak Adlerstein and he goes out of his way to join ranks with - of all "people" - Harry Maryles and Failed Messiah! Eh tu, Brutus?? You are with them? I used to respect you as a gifted and rational writer. But if you are going to be mapil pur with these sonei Yisrael, (or Kohein, in this case), you lost me. I actually hit the eject button when you threw in the line - "(to whose ankles in Torah R. Orlofsky will never rise)".

Have you sunk to playing the "measuring" game? (R' Reuven will never reach the shoelaces of R' Shimon in Torah who will never reach the ankles of R' Levi in Avoda who will never reach the kneecaps of Don Luigi in chessed who will never reach the gartel of R' Tom in dveikus who will never reach the navel of R' Dick in yirah who will never reach the pippik of R' Harry in gaavah anavah who will never reach the breita pleitzis of the middle linebacker for the Pittsburg Steelers who...)

Spare me. Even though I will never come down to the toenails of Rabbi Adlerstein, when one resorts to playing the "measuring game" among contemporaries, he becomes one-dimensional and pretentious.

And he can also fall prey to the Deir Yassin Syndrome.

For better or worse, Ohr Somayach, Darkei Bina and Ohr Lagolah have been moving on and doing their work for the past 5 years with no major upheavals. Why are they all of a sudden at a crossroads now? What incalculable harm is looming for 5771 when you cannot attribute sins to Rabbi Orlofsky any more recently than 5765?

I think it's incalculable because Rabbi Adlerstein is dividing by zero.

I just don't get it.

Failed Messiah, Harry Maryles and Rabbi Yitzchak Adlerstein. From New York to Chicago to California. There must be some connection with having a "rosh katan" and a long memory.

Yeah - Remember the Alamo! Remember Deir Yassin! Remember the Slifkin fiasco! Remember Miriam Shears!

Remember Yetzias Mitzrayim!

Remember Amalek!

Remember the Shabbos and keep it holy!

Remember Maamad Har Sinai!

Remember how we angered G-d in the desert!

Remember Miriam and her Loshon Harah!!!! Remember what Hashem your G-d did to Miriam...

ותקבל ברחמים וברצון סדר זכרונותנו