Guest post By Dovid Burton
Insanity is the inability to sort things out. When a popular
weekly magazine blurs the differences between people with purposeful intent,
that is inequity in real time. Mishpacha seems deserving of this dubious
distinction. A storyline on its front cover {Family First Feb 4. } reads, adviceline-
My rav made serious mistakes. I’m having trouble trusting a rav again.
Torah accords the rabbinate the highest accolades, witness
the “yukum purkon” prayer, before mussaf on Shabbos.
They are the
manhigim- the mentors and stewards of Am Yisrael, and answer to a higher source. Who has the right to insinuate that
the reputation of Chachmei Yisrael may
be tarnished because of someone’s shortfall?
Must teenage girls read this torrid stuff for oneg shabbos ?
The giyus- army law
is the handiwork of Naftali Bennet- Jewish home party; yet at the height of the
brouhaha, Mishpacha put the onus on Yair
Lapid instead. To this day the former is a fixture in this periodical as a
legitimate player in the memshala.
Bennet writes off the
directive of Gedolei Yisrael Rav
Shteinman and Rav Chaim Kanievsky. He is walking down the same path as another
man did 2000 years ago. According to an uncensored version of Talmud Gittin {57a}
that individual, gung ho and
recalcitrant, is now “dung ho” in the afterlife,
for being “Malig al divrei
Chachomim”.
Then again, Bennet follows the mantra of the Smith
Brothers cough drops 
lookalike, “we`ll confine the rabbis to their
barracks. { Im Tirzu Ain Zu Agudah}
lookalike, “we`ll confine the rabbis to their
barracks. { Im Tirzu Ain Zu Agudah}
If you interview Minister
of Defense Moshe Yaalon, you’re in the driver’s
seat. As a Torah oriented publication, if you discuss Israel’s security
obviously the Creator has something to do
with this. Why didn’t the questions you posed mention the Ribono Shel Olam even
once? Where is the shem shomayim shagur befiv?
In one issue your title read Israel’s advanced drones- A tiny nation ahead of the
pack. From the Chumash’s point of view, military prowess seems over the top.
MIshpacha makes it
appear that it straddles 2 worlds, the
Olam Hayeshivos and beyond. It attempts
to portray Yeshivaleit as similar in style and substance to the other segment
of its readership. Actually, a Ben Torah’s ideology is to this group what Micky
Mantle is to Shakespeare. And just as
Israel eliminates terrorists {called chisul in Ivrit} this weekly is “mechasel”
from its news reports and special features any vestige of a Ben Torah’s
worldview.
They’ll do a piece on rediscovering Rav Boruch ber Leibowitz’s kever, and how great this Torah luminary’s
hasmodoh was, but to the extent that the Kamenitzer Rosh Hayeshiva’s legacy offends
Naftali Bennet and the people who voted
him in, he’s not Rav Boruch Ber anymore. In the context of a timeless Manhig,
he is now persona non grata. Their take of this loadstar of the Jewish people
is now reduced to what a morah would teach in kindergarten to 3 year olds. Klal
yisrael deserves better than that.
An episode took place in Israel weeks ago; it underscores the Mishpacha mindset.
A frum man of Sefardic origin traveled to a middle eastern
country for business, than stopped off in Israel. At the airport, the customs official noticed that
the individual was born in Syria. At Ben Gurion that’s hitting the jackpot.
–You are now under scrutiny to make sure you are who you say you are.
They gave him a
“Farher” and even asked him the sedra of the week.
Israelis are an interesting bunch. Would that they realize
that instead of exploiting the weekly portion as a means to know they’re secure- if only they would embrace the Torah’s
weekly ethos and incorporate it into their personality , they’d have security
itself via the Boreh Olam. Tzur yeladcha teshi ,vatishkach kel Mecholilecha
(Devorim 32)
This post is near incomprehensible. Can you please edit so we can understand what the author is trying to convey?
ReplyDeleteAgree with The Bald Guy.
ReplyDeleteIn addition, the post itself blurs the distinction between mocking the words of Chazal (which the Gemara in Gittin is referring to) and merely failing to heed their words, which is what Bennett is guilty of (at worst - he may have other rabbonim who he relies on, for all I know).
In general, all this over-the-top rhetoric is damaging in many ways, and if Mishpacha is avoiding getting caught up in it more power to them.
What is this that I hear? Umeh Kol Hatzon hazeh Beoznoi, obviously you didn't read this weeks haftorah. Shmuel gave Shaul a prophetic directive to destroy the live stock of Amalek. When Shaul did not heed hashems words, the Novi rebuked him Yaan Muastah es devar Hashem, in your eyesyou found almighty's command to be repulsive. There you go.
DeleteArticles such as these are a pathetic. Being posted here re-enforces that this blog never properly articulates intelligent arguments. It just yells, "HEY, SOMETHING IN PRINT OR ONLINE HAS BEEN PUBLISHED THAT WE DISAGREE WITH".Everone reading has an opinion. The kuntz is to articulate responses.
ReplyDeleteFinally someone setting the record straight. enough of the charedi apologists and the left leaning publications portraying themselves as right wing. The thousands of Bnei Torah in the US dont agree with these shittos. To them there is a clear distinction between black and white. The attempt at confusing the hashkafos in a facade of reaching out across the aisle wont fool the yeshiva world.
ReplyDeleteYaher koach
Deleteawful writing. not worthy of putting out for the public.
ReplyDeleteA supermarket in Lakewood purposely does not sell this magazine.
ReplyDeleteIs this classed as intelligent writing? Seriously, what's with the "Either you're 101% with us or you're a horrible person who hates God and Torah?"
ReplyDeleteMishpacha has been left-of-center in Orthodoxy since day one.
ReplyDelete