New York – Former Gov. George Pataki ripped an upstate rabbi for making “offensive and disgraceful” comments that described Hurricane Sandy as divine payback for New York legalizing gay marriage.
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Pataki called on fellow Republican Neil DiCarlo — who is running on the Conservative Party line for a state Senate seat from the Hudson Valley — to denounce the remarks of Rabbi Noson Leiter. DiCarlo opposes gay marriage, and the orthodox rabbi made the statements in support of his third-party candidacy.
“It’s simply incomprehensible that anyone could attribute the devastation and loss of life caused by Hurricane Sandy to divine retribution against the New York State legislature,” Pataki railed.
“It’s like blaming America’s belief in freedom for the attacks of Sept. 11,” Pataki added.
Pataki is right. This “Rabbi” is as silly as Levin. Fools.
al taan ksil k’ivalto
Governor, we need you back to lead the state of NY!!!!!
I could understand Gov. as he is not really know what he is talking about, but what I have a really hard time to comprehend all comments of Jewish readers that would be following mine, in support of his opinion. Some of them even Shomrei Shabbos , but still doesn’t believe that nothing happening in this world without Hashem’s will. And if there is a punishment or better say an awakening call, something is very wrong here. And just learning the story of Mabul let us see that mishkav zohor and other pritzus are prime reasoning for this type of events. New Orleans also wasn’t such a mokom of kedusha, was it?
The Gemara in yerushalmy says that for sins like these earthquakes happen. Nobody realized that on the summer this devastating legislation was passed an earthquake struck NY which is a real rare thing!!! Now two years late this nut comes along with his ideas! Let him learn a little bit before calling himself a rabbi!!!
Lets not forget in the news they always mentioned atlantic city as being the eye of the storm, which is the place of gambling and zimah perversion of the east coast..
So think about it..
As well mayor bloomberg of ny just a few days ago donated half a million to support gay marriage..
So think about it…
And just recently came with a law against metzitza..
So think about it…
Also on Oct 18 New York (CNN) – A federal appeals court in New York became the nation’s second to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act, finding that the Clinton-era law’s denial of federal benefits to married same-sex couples is unconstitutional. The court upheld a lower court’s decision in a 2-1 majority ruling and determined that America’s gay population “has suffered a history of discrimination” similar to that faced by women in years past.
Thus upholding the law for equal benefits for same sex couples.
And just a few days later Sandy started.
Think about it…
If only the Ebeshter would strike down these few hateful disgusting rabbonim who constantly seek to associate every natural disaster with political decisions they don’t agree with. That would be a true sign of “divine payback”.
I understand the pain of Mr. George from Hungary. Many of those hungarian Non Jewish people are pro liberal lifestyle. they have not studied the Rashi in Parshas Noach. they don’t know the meaning of Anderlemisya Ba’ah le’oilum.
This is what happens when theese rabbis have it too good they spew absolute nonsense on us all they should be put into place just like gov. pataki is doing by,what a shame when so called responsible leader rabbis talk such idiocy it is beyond the pale.
Several years ago, when the first state, Massechussets, recognized such “marriages,” Rush Limbaugh’s sub, Roger Hitchcock, asked,”does this vindicate the Iranian assertion that we are the world’s greatest Satan?”
‘reshowim afilu al pischon shel gehnom ainon chosrim’
how come the rabbi cant have his own opinion, it might be a un
popular one among liberal people, but he still has a right to his own opinion
we need the govonor to state that this rabbi is mishuga…saichel darf mehn hubben and this rabbi doesnt have any saichel…what a stupid comment for this rabbi to say…
Seems to me Rashi said that it was “chomos” that finally tipped Hashem’s hand in the mabul. Anyone want to discuss that? Maybe it’s a test to see if we can be nice to each other. At the end of the day, no one know’s Hashem’s chesbon. We can each search our own hearts and try to be better people.
It is Against Torah to assign blame to any natural occurance or disaster to your own inadequate ways. I am sure you can say it is time to daven, but it is never time to build your nostalgia for hatred.
To Kzetnick.I feel your pain over your Holocaust loss..I too lost siblings and baby nephews and nieces…however ..as painful as it is, we believe Hashem is Just (and we recite Tziduk Hadin). Although no one can say they know for certain why heavenly punishment happens..Maimonides (Rambam) say it is cruel to say things just happen with no reason because if people don’t change their ways, the punishment recurs(see Tochacha”im teilech kerry). Historically in 1933 when Hitler took power buses were running on Shabbos taking workers from the famed Slabodka to factories in Kovna every 30 minutes.By 1938 the buses were running once every 5 minutes. In short there was a near total abandonment of the Torah in Lithuania, and the rest of Europe. Rabbi Pinkas once responded to the question of where was G-d during the Holocaust.”In the garbage can where he was placed by a large segment of our brethren”..Although there were many pious and observant Jews who were brutally murdered(amoung them my family).they unfortunately were on a boat that was sunk by their co-coreligionists. Too hard for human minds to grasp? Too painful ? Maybe.But what about Jewish theology? Irrelevant? Best Wishes
Rabbi Leiter, I never knew before that the Agudah of Bayswater supported gay marriages. Thanks for finally clearing up why it was destroyed.
The Rabbi is 100% correct. Benei Noach are Mitzivah on Z’nus, the Mobel was caused by Ki Hishchis Kol Busur Es Darko. Rashi asserts that “wherever you find lewdness, punishment of an indiscriminate character comes upon the world killing good and bad alike.” In other words, when the ethics of sexual boundaries are broken, the floodgates of divine wrath are unleashed upon the world. Hashem have boundaries to the waters till where that should come, if humans break their boundaries by commititing Z’nus, the waters break the boundaries too.
there appears to be 2 main issues here that are being discussed.when a disaster likes this occurs yefashfesh adam bemaasav – we should examine our actions.
Gay marriage sanctioned by the state is maasey sodom-the children of noah were commanded to observe morality-they did not ! Sandy seems to be at least a warning -probably more.
as to # 11-why did religious communties get hit so hard ? well that certainly has to be evaluated .perhaps all is not as it appears to be .perhaps something is rotten in the state of denmark , as shakespeare wrote.these are complex issues but
one thing is clear to those who want to see,this was divine retribution and the
children of noah and the NY jewish community need to repent and change their ways. quickly !!!
Something else to think about:
We just read about the Mahpechas Sedom VaAmora. According to Chazal, Lot begged the malachim to save sedom. What sealed Sedom’s fate was when the Sodomites told Lot they wanted to sodomize the malachim. At that point, the malachim said “Od mi licha po…” and get out of dodge…
We don’t know why Hashem does things. But it’s mighty suspicious that since the fraud of “gay marriage” has become more acceptable, the natural order we knew prior has changed as well, with earthquakes, this super-storm neis, etc. Hashem yiracheim.
There is no excuse to legalize Gay “Marriage” other than to deny Hashem’s natural order and to make this toeiva more “natural” to people. This is a slap in the face, so to speak, to Hashem.
That Bayswater, Seagate and other Jewish areas got pummeled is not a kashe on this; they happen to be on the water and maybe it could have been much worse there, but Hashem did hold back the waters, somewhat, there. It’s not CH”V their fault; they do happen to live on the water, so in a storm like this, it’s a problem.
in theory, since they are not jewish, their gay marriages should carry just as much weight as their traditional ones, in other words – nothing. yould think we as jews would be more forgiving towards minorities being persecuted instead of just blindly following the general opinion.
i have some second thoughts over my previous comments wherein i was too politically correct regarding # 11 and the impact of the storm on s0-called “frum communities”. unfortuneately, how often do we read and hear about adultery, bankruptcy , child abuse,embezzlement (corporate,and even from synagogue accounts)divorce,,hypocrisy – i will stop here it’s too painful to continue.
These are serious issues afflicting the” frum communities” that must be discussed
and changed.Sandy is not a gold star for good behaviour!
It is interesting that so many of the Torah educated people writing responses here are so upset that Rabbi Leiter finds a possible link between our society’s legalization of gay marriage and the devastating storm. Rabbi Leiter did not make this up. Nothing he says is original. He is neither a liberal nor a conservative. It is clearly written in the Torah that Hashem brought the Mabul (flood) and afterwards, the destruction of Sodom due to the fact that these societies were immersed in homosexuality. He is just repeating what we all have learned since elementary school. I suspect that some of these people might be so upset about Rabbi Leiter’s opinion because they may have a personal problem in this area. Otherwise, why would they condemn a Rav who condemns homosexuality, which the Torah clearly forbids, as a fool?
Those innocent that suffered is because one whole sinks the entire ship. We are all responsible for each other. Only Hashem knows why this happened, but if we don’t “LEARN” from this, then it’s bound to happen again Ch’V.
QUOTE: ” It’s like blaming America’s belief in freedom for the attacks of Sept. 11,” Pataki added.”
whaaaat?!?!?! what a comparison!! he’s comparing gays. [which every religion is against].. to democracy?!?!!!
& besides… yes the radical attackers do actually believe that americas belief in freedom of giluy arayos, etc. is all wrong, & thats their reason they give for their attacks.
If gay people are able to cause earthquakes and hurricanes that’s a good reason not to mess with them.
Rabbi is wrong?
I am not sure who this Rabbi is, he might be a nice person
But for some reason NY with their pervert law that homosexuals marry and their metzitza law, and Atlantic city with their gamblers got all the wonders of nature on them.
We can wonder why
This plethora of absurd pseudo Mussar D’roshos does not take into account the Issur D’Oraissa of ‘Ach HaNavi Asher Yazid L’Daber Davar Bishmi!’. It is most amazing that the posters of this dribble do not realize that their unnatural hatred of others causes them to so foolishly put words in the ‘mouth’ of the Borai Alma!
It is unbelievable how there is no hastaras panim anymore.
Shortly after an Eruv against daas torah was built in Boro park, The twin towers collapsed. One for shomor and one for zochor.
And as Rabbi Tzinner eloquently pointed out during the funeral of a child that was murdered recently, that because people are not careful with the the halachos of yichud, even for 9 year olds, such tragedies happen.
Now with sandy you can clearly see how Hashem is talking directly to his children. We all know how badly we need to remove Obama from office, and now Hashem bought a storm which was great pr for him and now he might win and who knows what the consequences will be. We live in such scary times, and we can clearly see Hashem talking to us if we keep an open mind… We have to just remember to keep an open mind and we will always see the message in every tragedy.
Why is everyone obsessed with gay marriage? What about the primary reason for the mabul, which was theft!
The passuk says: “For the earth has become full of theft” (Bereishis 1:3). “Their verdict was sealed only because of theft” (Sanhedrin 108a quoted by Rashi on the passuk).
It’s very easy to blame the flooding on an aveirah that we do not do anyway. It’s a lot harder to blame it on a nisayon that we face every day.
Secondly, if we are blaming corruption of the natural order, why pick on gay marriage. What about child molestation?
We frum people believe in what Chazal teach us. Passing a law legalizing such behavior brings catastrophes. Even though frum neighborhoods were hit as well, that does not dispute the chazal. Once there is destruction it does not differentiate one neighborhood from another. Scared to think what else is coming!
Am I the only one left who believes in what R’ Yannai said in Pirkei Avos (4-19) that it is not in our hands to understand either the tranquility of reshaim ,and the suffering of tzadikim?
I don’t see why being against same sex marriage means you hate people of that persuasion. It seems to be a typical liberal tactic used when in disagreement to attack the person rather than their arguments or position and it is usually those very people who attack in response that are acting hateful.
Those who self-righteously attack proponents of gay marriage, is that what Avraham did? My chumash said he davened that Hashem have rachmanus even on anshei sdom, the worst of the worst. Acording to Rashi, because of how they killed a young girl (Riba), not mishkav zachor.
My chumash doesn’t say that Avraham went around cursing them out for mishkav zachor. I must have a bad copy. Could someone please buy me an accurate chumash?