New York – Mrs. Ruth Lichtenstein publisher of New York’s Charedi English Daily Newspaper Hamodia, penned a scathing editorial that appeared on the front page of the newspaper today, in her editorial ‘Its Time To Act’ Mrs. Lichtenstein address the ongoing violence in Israel by extrismst, specifically the actions of those who dressed in Holocaust garb last weekend at a Motzei Shabbos rally held in Kikar Shabbos.
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In her editorial, she writes, for too long the Jewish community has been ignoring those ‘Meshuga’im’ “The time has come to shatter the silence. ‘Ignoring these fanatics is no longer an option’.
This is the second editorial this week by Hamodia on this issue, but this time Mrs. Lichtenstein herself signed her name, and shares her own experiences as she coincidentally visited Israel last week.
Mrs. Lichtenstein, is also the founder and director of Project Witness which serves to educate the public about the Holocaust and a noted author who has written extensively about World War II.
Below is the full article that appeared today in Hamodia.
It’s Time to Act
Last Shabbos morning was exceptionally beautiful in Yerushalayim. As always, the streets were full of Yidden going to and from shul, passing walls plastered with a variety of posters and advertisements.
Suddenly I noticed a placard announcing a demonstration in Kikar HaShabbos, to take place on Motzoei Shabbos.
Participants would be required to wear a yellow star and don prisoners’ uniforms, similar to what was worn in the Nazi death camps, and demonstrate against the harassment of the authorities with regard to the mehadrin lines and other similar grievances. I was horrified.
In a subsequent conversation in which I described the placard, its content and style, to a resident of Yerushalayim with a lot of life experience, I was surprised at his calm response. He just brushed it off with a wave of his hand. “Nonsense! Meshuga’im!” he exclaimed.
But this time, these “meshuga’im” overstepped the line. They went too far. What has been imprinted in everyone’s memory, with the eager collaboration of the secular media, is the horrific image of a small child wearing a yellow star, with his arms raised, and, not coincidentally, remarkably resembling the famous photo of a child with his arms raised in the Warsaw Ghetto.
How did the hands of the parents not tremble when they dressed their small child in this horrific uniform?
What does this father know about the Holocaust, about children in the Holocaust, about the significance of such a photo? Obviously, less than nothing. With pre-meditated cynicism, the fringe group to which he belongs has desecrated an iconic symbol for their own ends.
What will this father tell his son when he grows older and tries to understand how his father opted to turn him into a symbol that will haunt him all his life?
It’s not pleasant to be a chareidi in Yerushalayim — or anywhere else in Eretz Yisrael for that matter — these days. During the remainder of my brief stay in Eretz Yisrael, wherever one went the reaction was the same: “You chareidim! Shame on you!”
The more polite, well-mannered people said, “We know they are a radical minority, we know they are casting a stain on the entire chareidi community with their behavior, but why do you remain silent?”
The time has come to shatter the silence. Ignoring these fanatics is no longer an option, since they go out of their way to attract the secular media in order to broadcast their warped messages to the entire world.
I make no demands on this group, since they are not rational. The father of that child and his cohorts not only did not apologize or explain themselves, they even pledged to continue in their ways, according to secular media reports.
My demand is from us: How did we, in our naiveté, think that the actions of this fringe group could just be ignored? How did we give them a platform, allowing them to act as the representatives of chareidi Jewry?
What we desperately need is a serious media campaign to present the true position of Torah Jewry to the world. As my father, Rabbi Leibel Levin, z”l, and Rabbi Moshe Sherer, z”l, understood when they founded Mercaz L’hasbarah Datit and Am Echad, respectively, for this purpose, we dare not relinquish the spokesmanship of Klal Yisrael to irrational, irresponsible and self-serving fringe elements.
If we want to survive, if we want to merit understanding in Israel and abroad as Orthodox Jews who want to live our lives in accordance with the Torah, we must act — immediately!
Ruth Lichtenstein
What is up with us men? Why is it that only the women are speaking up? (I think that they should go to the front of the bus, metaphorically speaking.)
Great article! Boycott the badatz!, don’t buy anything with there hechsher!
Mrs Lichtenstein can talk. She has published a book Witness to History a book to painful to read but a must for every yiddisher house. In the middle there is a semi blank black page which is purposely left blank to commemorate the untold tragedy and unimaginable pain our nation suffered but mipnei kevod hameis will remain untold forever. She can condemn the idiots who wore the yellow stars of the ghettos and striped uniforms of the concentration camps this past motsei shabbos. Yiden were forced to wear these because they existed not because they wanted to travel seperatley on luxury buses. How many survivors are suffering because of these horrific memories? these ‘heiliger’ paunchy yiden in their homemade getup may have made their point but in the process they have told 6,000,000 kedoshim that their suffering is just the same. Not being able to have seperate seating on a bus is like being stripped of your family, belongings and clothes, being forced to labour in hunger, suffering beyond human grasp and death in its worst form. These ‘heiliger’ yiden have acheived a level of kedusha but have tortured millions in the process. They are torturers and should be wearing SS uniforms.
when we will stand up against all wrongdoings and fanatics from the chareidy community we will join!
including skver!
can someone explain what the problem is?
I don’t know what aviereh they doing. They are not mechalel shabos or eat chazir or have women singing for them etc.
Kudoos to Ms. Ruth!
The real question is WHERE ARE OUR RABBONIM??????
WHERE ARE OUR LEADERS????
RABBONIM SHAME ON YOU!!
WE WANT B’DAATZ TO APOLOGIZE, to the Frum jews all over the world.
Yes a “BOYCOTT” may be appropriate until an apology comes!
if they were only educated, they would have steeped outside there own stupidity, discrace whats going on and yet the ultra orthodox rabbeim in there own community does not condemn there actions.
An old Yerushalmi man once told me “the Bedatz is like a dead body – everyone is afraid, but it cannot harm you”
what a great article and this is stepping up to the plate, we need to hear more of this. The community has been silent for too long, ignoring situations that are bad does not make them go away, we can no longer bury our heads in the sand.
I do not believe that this is only a minority extremist fringe group this is a very large segment of the population and by being silent the leaders are in essence agreeing with their warped way of life…..I do not want to be called charedi anymore….
The men responsible for the campaign to wear a yellow star and don concentration camp prisoners’ uniforms, and demonstrate against the authorities with regard to the mehadrin lines and other similar grievances (no woman could or would have hatched such a disgusting idea) have an historic precedent and defense for their actions.
They “were only obeying orders” .
The $64,000 question is who, exactly, gave them.
When the Hamodia will write it’s enough with the mishogoyim in America that protect pedophiles people will believe in hope.
When the Hamodia writes it’s enough of the mishogoyim that destroy people that are getting divorced there will be hope.
When the Hamodia writes it’s enough of the mishogoyim that lie to gedolim about banning the hamodia, Bina, and Mishpacha there will be hope.
When the Hamodia stops being political and writes editorial for the sake of TRUTHFULLNESS and to write what is EMES instead of worrying about image there will be hope or maybe Moshiach will actually be here already!
Excellent!!! You should contact Ruchie Freier, let’s DO something already!
One of the more fundamental and well-known teachings of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Vitebsk deals with the problem of Jews who abandon the Torah and its way of life. This is what he wrote to his students: “I only wish to distance you from that which is prohibited, and to warn you: Do not mock others, lest you be struck by hardships, Heaven forbid. More specifically, do not mock those who have abandoned the Torah… for it is quite obvious and clear to me that mocking those who have abandoned the way of the Torah is the cause of decline and destruction, for have not the Sages taught that Jews are considered God’s children no matter what? Consequently, one who derides the irreligious, in effect, separates himself from the collective community of Israel. Furthermore, he forfeits his reward in the World to Come as far as the benefits of the collective body of Israel are concerned. This is what is meant by the words of the verse, ‘I reside amongst my people,’ as interpreted by the Holy Zohar. He who heeds these words will be visited by enormous material and spiritual blessing through the merit of the Assembly of Israel, and will ascend ever higher.”
excellent article this woman has courage but as other have pointed out where are the leaders the gedoliem their silence is scary.
do they agree, are they scared or are they so out of touch they do not know what is going on around them?
in her book, ruth blindly left out any mention of lubavitch, such as the escape of the lubavitch yeshiva or the escape of the lubavitch rebbe reb yosef yitzchok etc etc
she has no right to lecture anyone
Those of us who are not completely sequestered in an tiny enclave have faced a barrage of questions and criticism. There can be excuse or rationale for the despicable behavior of these disturbed thugs. “The 99%” should not only be a phrase for Occupy Wall Street. It should be a phrase we use and display against the less than 1% of us who are completely beyond the pale.
Why don’t we have a demonstration, or at least large prayer sessions, against those who willingly mock our Torah and our values by their outrageous behavior?
Why are so many of you afraid to provide your names and hide, instead, behind pseudonyms and pen names? Are we not able to do as this lady did, and stand up, publicly, for basic human decency? What do we fear?
Should we not insist that our rabbis speak about these issues, from the pulpit? Should we not educate our families and friends about how extreme and unbalanced this lunatic fringe has become, and how utterly ashamed we are regarding their disgusting behavior?
as an addendum to my previous pot (#10)
Please note this group are not a “fringe” group, lunatics or “meshiguim”, they were/are part of the B’Addatz planned and organized demonstration of Motzei Shabbos. Lets call a spade a spade.
Its the B’Addatz who organized this Protest demonstartion, they are the ones that need to apologize.
The Rabbonim from all four corners of the world should comdemn this despicable act, How dare they misuse the Yellow Stars? How dare they misuse the Auschwitz, Dachau and Bergen belsen uniforms? last but not least How dare they call the Israeli Police “Nazis” SHAME ON YOU!
Ruth! dont beat around the bush, by calling these people “meshugaim” etc CALL THEM BY NAME “THE B’ADDATZ” You too are scared! WHY?
contd.
the list just keeps on growing
* mevazeh talmidei chachamim (mocking Torah sages)
* al tihyeh k’korach va’daso (do not be like Korach and his crowd, who caused strife and dissension among the Jewish people).
And perhaps we’re missing the most important point of all: There was something that preceded the Torah. It was not Shabbos, it was not kashrus, it was not even tznius. It was DERECH ERETZ (defined in this context as basic decency).
contd. in next post
Sefer HaBris (Chelek 2, 13:11) on derech eretz:
וכשנחפשה לדעת אם חובת אהבת האדם קדמה או חובת התורה, נאמר שהיא קדמה אפילו לתורה הקדושה, כמו שאמרו חז”ל (באבות דר’ נתן) דרך ארץ קדמה לתורה,
“When we seek to find out whether the duty of loving people or the duty of observing the Torah comes first, we shall say that [the former] precedes even the Holy Torah, as Chazal said (Avos D’Rebbi Nassan): Derech Eretz precedes the Torah.”
והנה מודעת זאת לכל משכיל כי אהבת בני האדם ודבוק חברים ובטול רצונו מפני רצונם ועשיית הטוב והישר בעיניהם היא היא דרך ארץ, כי הלא זה הדרך להתנהג עם כל שוכני ארץ לעשות כרצון איש ואיש כפי האפשרי ולהדריך עצמו במנהג החביב בעיני כל אדם בארץ,
“This is a pronouncement to every intelligent person: Loving people, closeness between friends, doing what another person wants instead of what you want, doing that which is good and and proper in their eyes — this is derech eretz (literally: the way of the world). For it is the way (derech) to behave properly with all the inhabitants of the world (eretz), to do the will of each person as much as possible, and to direct one’s behavior so that it is beloved in the eyes of every person in the world (eretz).”
What a chutzpah the hamodia has !!!!
Even the fact I believe is that the guys in beth shamash are wrong and disgusting ! However a paper that lives on us and is providing us our news should know better then this !!!
Now is the time for the paper to stick up for us and defend all our values against the secular people in Isreal that hate us only because for what we are and they are using the ugly behaver of a few sick people to attack us all
Now is not the time to go out and attack our brothers ! Help us now to defeat the hate that is coming from all sides to us just because we are proud jews !!! And in a month from now when the whole story is death then we should all get together and condemn the ugly violent people that are not behaving like they should be
“Why are so many of you afraid to provide your names and hide, instead, behind pseudonyms and pen names? What do we fear?”
What a good question!
Personally, I have nothing to fear in this respect. בה”ש I am financially independent and obliged to no one – than than ‘ה Himself.
On the other hand, dear doctor, others “hide”, as you put it, behind pen names and anonymity for fear of being both censured and censored by the family, their friends (and their enemies, too) – and also their rebbes.
Loyalty and one’s obedience to one’s rav – as you surely know – is a two-edged sword. Primarily it offers membership of a clan or a club, if you like, which in turn offers psychological security. On the other hand, adherence to one charedi ‘sect’ or another also means conformity – and woe betide *any* disciple of *any* rebbe who dares to stick his/her head above the parapet.
Discipline can and will be enforced. Sanctions can and will be taken. Specific examples would be invidious, but we all know about these things.
So contributors to VIN are afraid of the consequences of giving their names. Social conformity is a terrible thing sometimes, but membership of the “clan” is paramount.
So now Mrs. Lichtenstein is our dass torah she decides what the position of the torah is who’s fanatical what chariedi Jews should and shouldn’t do and who we should speak against or for she should stay in the kitchen!
Mrs. Lichtenstein: Your newspaper has been whitewashing the truth from the outset. Now you want us to rise up? Too little too late.
Until the Chareidi society decides to live amongst the Goyim like mentchen, there is no hope in this area. That means not insisting women move to the back. That’s where it all began. Once you demand that women not be visible or make them separate unnecessarily, yes that mean Halachicly, then you are sliding down a slippery slope.
There was a picture of the Chafetz Chaim which circulated amongst publications this summer. It was photoshopped of two women who stood right near him. I have seen that original photo. If the Chafetz Chaim had no problem sitting outside a public building adjacent to women, and the current Charedi publications do have a problem with it, we have big problem on our hands.
Since the Hamodia self-described themselves to represent Torah Jews, and is asking for we Torah Jews to take action, I’d like to say: Did you know that in order to be a Torah Jew you gotta believe what says in the Torah? Do you know, without going in that zionism is against the Torah, and taking a country by force is the biggest sin against Hashem and the Torah, that the Yesod from zionism is that you could be a Jew without being a Shomer Torah I’mitzvohs chas vsholom??? And they’re trying to” reis ois” yiddishkeit since the founding of the Medina?
Yes, what the Nazis did b’gashmias, they’re doing b’ruchnias. And the Gemara says: Gdol Hamachtia Yoser min H’hurgoi.
When “Rabbi” Avi Weiss and his congregation dressed in concentration camp grab to protest in NYC the screening of “the Passion of the Christ” was there an outcry as well? I don’t recall Mrs. Lichtenstien writing an editorial to condemn that at that time. I wonder what made her write that piece, is it because it bothers her the memory of the kedoshim or rather the sighting of the eidhe making a loud statement..
also it’s interesting to note that ALL chreidi Isreali papers and magazines (Hamodia, Yeted, Machne H’chreidi, Mishpacha, Shah Tova, Bikhila) were showing support for the frum yidden in Beith Shemesh and all had articles condemning the secular press. but in the US we had Ami and now Hamodia taking the other side…
#52 – the picture of the Chafetz Chaim with women in the background as compared to its photoshopped circulated pic: http://tinyurl.com/7t532xa