Brooklyn, NY – Albert Friedman the publisher of the Charedi newspaper Di Tzeitung , speaks to CNN Jessica Ravitz, discussing the controversy its newspaper got embroiled for altering an iconic white house photo.
Subscribe to our Daily Roundup Email
Watch below.
ABC on the Di Zietung interviewing Assemblyman Dov Hikind Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aojuGQ0_UmU
I can only imagine the picture of this interview Di Tzeitung is going print: Rabbi Friedman talking to a blank wall!
So now the publisher of a very charedie newspaper who claims Jewish “law” espouses that men not look upon women to justify why two women were removed from an important political picture stands in the immediate presence of a female news reporter on national television…… oh the irony.
does anybody see the irony….he’s being interviewed by a woman a couple feet away….yet can not have a picture of one in a newspaper??? wow the irony beautiful!!
BTW its not “Di Zeitung” it should be Der Zeitung, believe it or not there is actually Yiddish grammar……
Ha ha, as a reader of albert friedman for 20 yrs, I always hated him b/c he always admired The Clinton’s ! Be it Bill or Hillary, I can’t forget how sad he was when she lost to Obama in the primary ! As matter of fact, if you read any yiddish weekly news paper, Albert Friedman writes like a journalist vs all other yiddish childish writes. Poor guy.
This completely ridicules, insane and crazy how the media is grabbing on to this peace of news and just making it in to a big deal. Its not a BIG DEAL and not a story for the news and defiantly not headlines. All it is a yidish newspaper that’s prob runned like one. So leave them alone and find something else to be busy with.
It looks like they took out Osama and Hillary at the same time.
I wonder how much sales this will increase this week for the paper
I know Mr. Jason Miller personally. Hes a strange one. why they use him to comment on a halachik issue i dont know. typical to use an idiot to ‘clarify’ the jewish laws.
Great article on this subject in the Washington Post by Brad Hirschfield. Just to quote a small part, “The manipulation of the photo makes it clear that those who read this paper need “facts” which conform to their beliefs, and when those facts are not available, they alter the real ones to conform to their beliefs. That’s not simply bad journalism or a violation of fundamental ethics; it’s actually dangerous for the community itself. No community, at least in America, will succeed for long if they cannot at least appreciate and make sense of what is actually going on around them.”
I do not envy the blogger that was responsible for exposing this incident to the world and the tremendous chillul HaShem that ensued.
For the world to see sheker done in the name of G-d (infringing the gov’t copyright/ altering the reality in order to satisfy religious sensitivities) is a terrible thing, and the blogger may want to weigh the consequences of his actions more carefully before posting in the future.
He may have gained more followers to his site as a result of this story, but it has come at a great loss.I can only hope the blogger recognizes the gravity of his ‘harmless’ post and will have a hirrur teshuvah.
The lesson of this story is twofold: In the internet age, everyone has to be wary of what they write whether it be online(as in a blog) or even in print(as in a newspaper).
It is also saddening to see the outside worlds incomprehension of the di tzeitung policy of not publishing womens images in print. I don’t expect the world to appreciate the policy but at least respect it-dont twist it into something its not. In this light I find a silver lining in all this:a reminder that we are torah jews and we have different sensitivities than the rest of the world whether they understand it, ridicule it, or exploit it.chazak v’ematz
Big deal it’s a newspaper for frum jews. So what!
Altering a white house image which is elegal was given an appolgy so lets continuew living!
I’m wondering if the media would pay this much attention to the Phelps cult newsletter.
As far as the White House not allowing any alteration to this picture, there are Photoshop spoofs all over the web.
I understand it but I don’t condone it. Don’t use the picture at all would have been the best advice in hindsight. This is worse in the public’s mind then when the photo of Obama leading the pack of Muslime dignitaries was photoshopped and shown with Mubarack leading the others.
Frumkeiten unleashed…Hillary is the most modestly dressed woman out there. This is taking this chumrah to a level unheard of in previous times. Focus on the damage done to the community as a whole, by some fringe radical “ultra-orthodox”. I say this is unorthodox. Is it about controlling our thoughts and urges that they dont publish these pictures? Its definitely not about tznius!!! If it is about controlling urges…maybe stop printing the “news” and start printing some mussar…Oh…I forgot…nobody is interested in that. Open a Messilas Yesharim and learn something about Zehirus!!!!
A bunch of fanatics!!!
De Tzeitung is a great paper. They were consistent with their philosophy and apologizd for any offense. True ‘mentchen.” I am positive that Hillary is fully familiar with De Tzeitung and that she understands its working criteria. I am PROUD to be a weekly De Tzeitung reader.
Washington post
Without entering a protracted debate about modesty or what Jewish law does and doesn’t allow, their statement fails to recognize that in exercising their right to edit the photo (they claim that White House policy forbid such editing), they needed to assume a related obligation – to inform their readership that they were looking at a re-touched image. In failing to make that clear, the editors avoided a very real challenge for themselves and for their community.
The manipulation of the photo makes it clear that those who read this paper need “facts” which conform to their beliefs, and when those facts are not available, they alter the real ones to conform to their beliefs. That’s not simply bad journalism or a violation of fundamental ethics; it’s actually dangerous for the community itself. No community, at least in America, will succeed for long if they cannot at least appreciate and make sense of what is actually going on around them.
Question: I don’t read or speak Yiddish. Can anybody who does please tell me whether, on the news story page, they explained that they’d had to photoshop women out of the picture, and did they name the women? Or were they just not mentioned?
I think some frum woman should purplish their own magazine and delete, photoshop out all the men.
Wonder what what would happen.
Of course it would be for woman only and permitted to be sold only to woman
I truly do not believe the folks that did this understand the impact they have on the rest of their fellow Yidden.
Let me explain.
I work for a large bank. One of the things we get to do as a fairly senior person is find people jobs and provide ongoing coaching to frum people that are in our organization. Boruch Hashem, we have been relatively successful in helping those that have no parnassah and in helping others improve their parnassah.
After reading about an incident such as this, we appear to be about the same as the Taliban in the eyes of the non-Frum or practitioners of other religions and the atheists.
When one of my colleagues that falls into these categories sees a Yid with a long beard and payos come in for an interview, the first association in their minds with be “TALIBAN”.
How many folks will not be able to make a living because of this?
I sure hope someone passes this along to the editors and decision makers of the Der Tzeitung so they can contemplate the number of lives they have adversely impacted with their Chumros.
Listen guys. Albert Friedman is now laughing all the way to the bank. I don’t believe his subscriptions will increase by much because of this, but Mr. Friedman would never have believed he is going to make it this big and become an issue of international interest,
I suggest to Mr. Friedman to start publishing an english version of דער צייטונג. He may get some new readers now.
I am sure the other two yiddish weeklys’ envy him.
(Reply to #32 ) – We’re jumping on the bandwagon because many of us are WOMEN who are mad as can be and DON’T WANT TO TAKE IT ANYMORE!!! What do you think it feels like to work your guts out running your household, cooking, cleaning, raising children, working outside your home, only to be photoshopped out of your own life, so to speak? You remember the saying “children should be seen and not heard?” Well, apparently, as a woman I shouldn’t even be seen! It’s mamesh an insult, whether it’s me or Hillary or Audrey or ANY WOMAN! Although many women collude with men to keep themselves relegated to the invisible tier, there are many of us who have truly had enough. I will not let it happen to my daughters.
CRAZY, they r taking this non-sense tiny paper from a tiny part of brooklyn n running this as THE story of the century,
If I was Albert Friedman I’d write a check for AOL, and CNN for all the advertizing they gave him,
Just showes u how insane 2days media really is
Can any1 tell Albert whan he goes on live on CNN, he should dress like a mentch!!!
I don’t understand all of your comments. Did you ever see a women in the Hamodia, Yated, Mishpacha,Binah etc… There is certainly not going to be one in Yiddish newspapers. And for those of you who are saying “what a chillul hashem….people won’t get jobs (#45)- it was unintetional. What was intentional was the “jewish people” that put this all out. The White House doesn’t subscribe to der tzeitung. The people who started this are responsible.
The most disturbing aspect from this interview is the fact that some guy with a beard and a kippa is speaking for Judaism and claiming that “Jewish Law” forbids photos of women for modesty reasons. People around the world watching CNN will take from it that Orthodox Judaism is just as backwards and insane as Islam. STOP PERVERTING JUDAISM WITH YOUR FANATICISM. No, it’s not Jewish law that makes up these radical interpretations, it’s your radical communities making up these rules as they go. Hillary and the other woman looked more modestly dressed in that photo than your typical lady in Boro Park wearing a sheitel these days.
next time the zeitung will cover their faces with a Hijab (veil). then the liberals (self hating jews) will be happy.
I couldn’t care less, and I am embarrassed that the White House and other media outlets made a mountain out of a molehill.
I also wonder why it is “wrong” to include a woman in a photo, but it is okay to speak to a woman live. Something is inconsistent here.
Personally, although I think the photoshopping out of women was absurd, I thought Mr. Friedman came off very well on tv. Honest, sincere, ethical. I don’t agree with the paper’s policy but I thought he did the best job he could have done in the interview. I’ve asked others and they agree.