Great post

Link

For after Tisha b'av

Who wants to do a survey?

I got the following email recently (yes, I'm flattered when I get mail). It's from a graduate student doing research on the Jewish community. If you're interested... here it is.

Are
you a Jew between the ages of 18-29? Would you like to take a couple of moments to discover more about yourself and your stage in life?

Below is a link to an on-line research study survey which will present you with questions regarding your assessment of your values, beliefs, and current stage of life. All answers will be confidential and your identity can be anonymous if you so choose.

It only takes 20-30 minutes to discover more about yourself, share your story, and contribute to psychological theory. Not bad, considering it can take years to write an auto-biography….

Click this link to begin telling your story:
http://www.surveygoldplus.com/s/DCA6C8CDA5B448A1/29.htm

*Parents should click here:
http://www.surveygoldplus.com/s/DCA6C8CDA5B448A1/30.htm

Also, please keep in mind--that only one response per computer is allowed.

Garnel

What would you say if I told you the top 100 defenders of your "faith" were all the same person? You'd be real proud, wouldn't you?

Here's a typical example of Garnel in disguise. From here, comment #2:

Anonymous said...

You covered a lot of ground in this post a great deal of which is worthy but let me just address two small points right now because I've got to run.

1. They may be more guilty of things like hypocrisy than others are but that's only because they claim to hold to a higher standard than others. Judged based on any pure measurement, I believe that the frum are found to be more in compliance with ethical standards than almost any other community.

2. I was at the asifa from pretty much start to finish and there was enough babbling in 3 languages for tzitutim to be offered that could say anything but, at the end of the day, there was a great deal said - in each of those languages - that you would have been very very pleased to hear.

Again, sorry for having to be so brief right now but i'm keeping people waiting.

Moshe

Subtle, isn't it?

I'll have you know he's been using the name Moshe a *lot* lately. His main hangout over the years has been XGH, and expect to see him there all the time. As well, he's all over Hedyot's blog, and it doesn't end there. Expect him to show up anywhere he can if it means sticking up for his beloved cult. And no, he doesn't hang around these parts too often anymore.

I know one thing: If it was an OTDer playing these games, the OTD community would never allow it, not in a million years. *We* don't shelter our criminals, unlike certain other communities I know of.

Our favorite day

I don't know, Tisha B'Av has always been one of my favorite days. We enjoy the suffering, don't we?

No one does miserable like us kikes.

Great new frum blog

Link

PeterY and Gillian from Hedyot's blog are Garnel

Garnel literally uses hundreds of names, and he's been trolling the J-blogosphere (or should I say "trollosphere") many years now. I suspect him of being many different names, but I generally only announce my suspicion on names that I'm more sure of. Also, a lot of the times I find him, I don't mention it here, but only on the blog in question.

Honestly Frum

A few days ago, someone started a new blog, called "Peace in our holy land." I found it through a comment on Honestly Frum's blog. I had many reasons to be suspicious of the person behind this new blog, and I challenged him in that comment thread to convince me he's not Garnel. The guy did a piss-poor job of it. He claimed, "we are a group of people from around the world who are concerned with the ongoing violence and chillul hashem." I asked him, "who is 'we?'" to which he responded, "Please go to our site and read the mission statement" which I did. Mind you, there's no mission statement there, but here's a good chunk from the first post, which perhaps serves as a mission statement:

There is a network of people around the world who are responsible for aiding, assisting and supporting these self proclaimed kanoim and this blog is here to tell you that the game is up.

This website represents a grass root effort of concerned individuals from around the world who are dedicated to shutting the violence and protests down, and we will use this blog and the power of the internet to peacefully yet forcefully expose those kanoim responsible for bringing shame onto our people and violence into our streets.


These extremists operate in fear and darkness. Now, we will use the brightness of day to expose their identities and those of their donors, supporters and enablers and we will exert tremendous pressure through the Internet and various media in addition to law enforcement officials (it is our understanding that funding these acts of terror is illegal and we will vigorously explore the possibility of working with law enforcement to follow the money trail that fund these activities and prosecute the donors. We will also work to get the Neturei Karta and perhaps other organizations classified as terror groups to shut down their network.


We wish to serve notice that whether you are the ones organizing these violent protests, participating in them, raising money for them, or housing their leaders for parlor meetings in your homes, your names and pictures will be identified here and will be sent to various press outlets to pressure you to stop these acts from taking place.

No word on how they'll do it, of course. Do I think this is some Garnel trick, designed to deflect attention from the rabbi scandals, focus on hatred of Chassidim and Neturei Karta in particular, and make it look like there are some Chareidim actually doing something about the corruption people are only now starting to hear about? Hell yes.

I'm especially pissed at Honestly Frum (can someone tell me why he never uses post titles?) for trumpeting, the very next day, the start of this new blog (Peace in our holy land) as if a) I never questioned the credibility of the blog, and b) he vouches for its authenticity. Shame on you, Honestly Frum.

Now you want to know where all this corruption starts? We'll start with your holy books. I remember commenting on Brooklyn Wolf a few months ago, "I thought gezel akum is muttar" to which The Wolf responded, "No, it's not." Turns out it's not nearly so simple.

Turns out stealing from gentiles is only a rabbinic prohibition. Stealing is certainly not simple, but how about fraud? Read this paragraph, taken from here, section G, point J:

It is written in the Torah (Leviticus 25:14): "And if you sell anything to your neighbor, or buy anything from your neighbor's hands, you shall not defraud one another." In Sifra on the portion of Behar Sinai, section 3, halacha 4 it is written: "'You shall not defraud one another' -- this is monetary fraud." Maimonides wrote in The Laws of Transactions, in the beginning of chapter 12: "It is forbidden for either the seller or purchaser to defraud his fellow, as it says: 'And if you sell anything to your neighbor, you shall not defraud one another.' Even though one [who does that] transgresses a negative commandment, he is not given lashes, for it can be recompensed. Whether he defrauded with intent or he did not know that the transaction was fraudulent, he is obligated to recompense."



However, regarding a Gentile the law is different. In Tractate Bechorot 13b it is explained: "They said: to your partner you return [something gained by] fraud, and you don't return it to a Gentile." Maimonides wrote in chapter 13, halacha 7: "A Gentile has not [been included in the transgression of] fraud as it says: 'one another' [literally, 'each his brother']. But a Gentile who defrauded a Jew must recompense him according to our laws -- it should not be more severe than it is with a Jew." Thus also wrote the Tur and the Shulchan Aruch in Choshen Mishpat, paragraph 227 (in the Tur, section 30 and in the Shulchan Aruch section 26). In this matter also the inequality of a Gentile is obvious.

Or try this, from here:

"It is forbidden for either the seller or purchaser to defraud his fellow, as it is written: 'And if you sell anything to your neighbor, you shall not defraud each his brother' (Leviticus 25:14)... Whether one defrauded wilfully or he did not know that the transaction was fraudulent, he is obligated to recompense [his partner]." (Maimonides, Laws of Transactions 12:1)

"A gentile has not [been included in the transgression of] fraud as it is written, 'Each his brother.' But a gentile who defrauded a Jew must recompense him according to our laws." (Ibid. 13:7)

The problem is not the people. It's The Book. You have an archaic, ancient, cruel legal system, and you wonder why it produces such messed up morons. Sure, you can choose to be "Modern Orthodox" and ignore most of the more ridiculous rules, but that doesn't make you any more Jewish than those who take their books a little more seriously than you do.

The whole system is screwed up.

Great comment

By Friar Yid. From here on this post.

So why should he be treated any worse than the other criminals who stayed silent That's what's frustrating to non-Orthos such as myself-- Dweck appears to be a putz, fair enough. But to ostracize him and only him makes it very clear that as far as the Orthodox (in these communities) are concerned, inappropriate, even criminal behavior is okey-dokey, but exposing it? No, that's beyond the pale. The unbridled Machiavellianism and self-centeredness masquerading as a religious value (bad for the community, bad for the Jews, chillul hashem, etc) is what rankles me. You know what's really bad for the Jews? Having criminals for rabbis, and then trying to justify a cover-up in the name of "not hurting" the community.

If people are going to sit shiva for Dweck, fine. But I want the next one to be for these so-called leaders. Why do I get the feeling the Messiah will show up before that happens? (This is all the more infuriating given that if any of them had married a Gentile, or even a convert, they'd be disowned on the spot. Again, what is the message being sent?)

Payback's a Bitch!

You may have noticed, I'm pissed that quite a few frum bloggers feel the need to take different names for themselves, and harass OTDers.

I say it's time for a little payback! Take off those gloves. Go on any and every frum blog, use all sorts of names, and have a field day. Yalla!

Use lots of names, be creative, and have fun.

Happy trolling!

Garnel should be shot

Jewish Gadfly is Garnel

Link

JP

From here:

I would like to respectfully request full access to the blog http://havennotheaven.blogspot.com/
I would like to perform the world's first group online intervention.

Thank you.

In the meantime, I request that all Jewish skeptics please stop mongering whores, snorting cocaine, smoking weed and swilling beer. Also, please stop surfing porn and masturbating.

Put your pants back on and behave like mentsches, not bums.

Thank you.

Great Thread

See about halfway through this 500-comment long thread. An MO commenter basically admits to being an atheist.

Sorry, I guess I'm not an atheist. I'm just MO. I bet that would have spared me a few lynchings by you assholes.

Am I Obnoxious?

I hate having to deal with others' ignorance, stupidity, and prejudices, but I guess I may as well answer the question.

No, I do not think I am obnoxious. You are free to disagree.

If I wanted to be obnoxious, I could be 100x more obnoxious. Easily. I never wanted to be obnoxious, and I never will want to be obnoxious, G-d-willing.

I do have work to do though, and I do it.

Garnel is the greatest jewish propagandist of all time

And I'm almost serious.

JP

See JP's comments here.

What do I think of the stereotype that atheists have no morals and they're fine with killing people?

I think it's far far worse than the stereotype that Jews are evil, and that they are Christ-killers who need to be put to death.

Shame on all of you.

That is all.

What do I think of all the recent scandals?

I don't know. I think those of you who feel terrible about it are people who would never do such things in the first place. Don't feel too bad.

Inspired by: FS.

See Garnel's disgusting bullshit here.

JRS is Garnel

Just so you know.

As I'm not a regular commenter on Hedyot's blog, expect him to hang out there more than usual.

Garnel's favorite story

Science vs.Torah

Check out this post, and the wild comments there.

Great quote

"Religion is probably, after sex, the second oldest resource which human beings have available to them for blowing their minds." - Susan Sontag

Future of this blog

You may have noticed, I haven't been updating this blog much lately.

I guess the inspiration has worn off. I don't know if I'll be blogging much in the future. I might still keep an eye on the blogosphere in general, but I probably won't be coming up with anything decent on my own for a while.

Garnel a Kofer?

See this post, where I point out that Garnel went on another blog and pretty much declared himself a kofer.

He is taken to task for his views here.

I actually find the whole situation rather amusing. Garnel tries so hard to present himself, and the insane theological views he espouses, as moderate, liberal, and acceptable, yet he has to work so very hard as well to not be chucked out of the community, and be called a kofer. It's the basic Modern Orthodox dilemma: you want so badly to be modern, and so badly to be Orthodox. It would be funny if it wasn't so sad. As the chassidim say, "dee ken nisht tantzin oif beider chassunas."

Garnel on Apologists

[From here]

"Apologists, you see, are seldom swayed by truth, the objective facts or the bigger picture. Having made up their minds as to what "reality" is, they need simply to justify to others what they already believe. And the really good apologists work by making you forget what those they are covering for have done."

It takes one to know one.

New Word for Accomodationists

Link

Great new post

Link

Garnel

I've come to the conclusion that Garnel has been commenting on XGH's blog for years using a multitude of different names. As the unofficial "Garnel expert" I do my best to unmask him every time he tries posting under different names. I'm getting really tired of his shenanigans. See some of the comments here, and the later ones here for more.

I think this man is easily the greatest troll in the history of the Jewish internets. He is by far the best at his game, and as far as I know, he's the only one who does it. What I don't know is why you people allow him to get away with this crap for so many years with nary a peep. Sheesh. What I do know is this: if an OTDer tried this shit, he'd be busted in minutes. How could this go on for so many years with NOBODY doing ANYTHING? It's mamish unbelievable.

I'll keep you posted.

Check out the new anti-JP blog

Link

Garnel Admits he's a Kofer

Garnel admits he's a kofer, while sucking up to some rabbi. See the first comment here. Okay, he doesn't admit it for sure, he says "maybe" ("Maybe I'm just a fellow kofer b'ikkar"). It's refreshing to see a little honesty from him for a change. Maybe it's a sign of things to come?

On Garnel

"Organized religion is a sham and a crutch for weak-minded people who need strength in numbers. It tells people to go out and stick their noses in other people's business." --Jesse Ventura

In honor of Pride Week

I know I'm a little late with this, but I had to chime in.

See this article, about rabbis and imams uniting to fight against gay rights. Isn't it something when religious "leaders" take a break from inciting hate to kill each other out to band together against their common enemy, the Left, and the Liberals. Shame on all of them, and their enablers. Despicable pigs.

Here's one post from the J-blogosphere discussing Pride Week. As can be expected from a frum blog, most of the comments are horrific. This comment though (#12) really pissed me off. The commenter starts off by saying "I’m exceedingly liberal when it comes to gay rights" and then compares a gay parade in Jerusalem to "dancing on Simchas Torah in front of a Ku Klux Klan rally." There is no hope for tolerance in a frum community. Here is some of that comment. Again, it shocked me not in how extreme it was, but in how ordinary it appeared.

"I’m exceedingly liberal (albeit closeted) when it comes to gay rights. Gay marriage? Fine. Gay representatives in elected office? Wonderful.

What I don’t understand is this incessant need to go out of their way to make a point. Tel Aviv is incredibly LGBT friendly and they have a pride parade there. Toronto has a pride parade in the gay neighborhood on Jarvis Street, and so do so very many other cities that have pride parades.

Let’s pretend for just a second. Forget for a moment that Yerushalayim is a holy city. Are the residents there comfortable with homosexuality? No. Is there a large population of homosexuals, bisexuals or transgendered in the city? No. It’s for exactly the same reason that you wouldn’t march down Montgomery, Alabama’s streets waving rainbow flags and wearing leather chaps with tighty whities or dance on Simchas Torah in front of a Ku Klux Klan rally – use a bit of common sense and accept that in some places, there’s not going to be a change in how people perceive you."

Garnel on his problems with Orthodoxy

"The problem from "out here" is that quite often we see public policy being decided in bizarre ways. For example, the banning of the Lipa Schmeltzer concert a couple of years ago. It turned out that most of the signatories to the ban had either no idea what they were signing or had been lied to as to the true nature of the concert. Yet without investigation they signed on to a piece of paper that almost ruined the poor guy's life.

Consider the Sliffkin controversy. Without commenting on the merit of his work, I would note that the ban against him was signed by rabbonim who never read his book.

Rav Eliashiv, shlita, is reputed to have said that if he has to spend time clarifying what he did and did not say he'd have no time to do anything else.

What is an am haaretz like myself supposed to conclude from this?"

From here.

Quotes

I was reading The Quotable Atheist, a book full of kefirische quotes. Here are some from Friedrich Nietzsche that I liked:

Are we not straying through an infinite nothing? Do we not feel the breath of empty space... God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him.

A casual stroll through the lunatic asylum shows that faith does not prove anything.

Mystical explanations are considered deep. The truth is that they are not even superficial.

God is a gross answer, an indelicacy against us thinkers—at bottom merely a gross prohibition for us: you shall not think!

This alone is morality: Thou shalt not know.

The man of belief is necessarily a dependent man… He does not belong to himself, but to the author of the idea he believes.

The only excuse for God is that He doesn’t exist.

Out of terror, the type has been willed, cultivated and attained: the domestic animal, the herd animal…the Christian.

Two great European narcotics: alcohol and Christianity.

I call Christianity the one great curse, the one great intrinsic depravity…the one immortal blemish on the human race.

Christianity was from the beginning, essentially and fundamentally, life’s nausea and disgust with life, merely concealed behind, masked by, dressed up as, faith in ‘another’ or ‘better’ life…The Christian resolution to find the world ugly and bad has made the world ugly and bad.

The last Christian died on the cross. (225)