Studies Show Reading Frum Websites is the Number One Cause of Rise in Anti-Semitism.

[onionsoupmix]

I don't know why more people aren't anti-semitic. Maybe they just don't read enough Jewish websites.

Some nanny in Crown Heights was seen buying a child an ice-cream. It wasn't even clear whether the ice-cream was not kosher or just cholov stam.  Here are some of the resulting comments:

* the goy that is trustable is rare

*Women do you understand

Comments

[anonymous]

You know, technically a five-year-old is not michuyiv in kashrus. Even chinuch only starts at seven.
G*3

[onionsoupmix]

You are clearly a goyishe babysitter.

[schwevy]

i had a mouthful of coffee when i read this comment and it took everything i had not to spit it all over my mac! now i am laughing out loud!

[sethg_prime]

“I don’t hold by that eruv.”

(“They tell the punchlines first.” “How do Jews tell jokes?”)

[aunt_becca]

there were sevral comments that basically said that it wasn't a big deal, tha there were bigger, more signifigant issues to deal with and that this was not anything we should be worrying about, and that his article "made them laugh." Yes, the majority of the comments made my blood boil, but not everyone agreed, thankfully.

right-minded gerim

[anonymous]

As a lapsing Ger, I can maybe help with the "why would anyone in the right mind" would convert to Judaism query. The actual content of Judaism has a lot to do with it (would you believe), and most gerim's initial exposure results from the internet and books; Orthodox judaism divorced from Orthodox Jewish communities. They also read a lot of kiruv literature, material thats actually for Jewish consumption. They then can build up interesting expeectations for what real Jewish communities are that may or may not be challenged by the reality of the communities they let themselves experience. Psychologically, a good number of them are trying to escape things and expect Judaism to be some kind of therapeutic 613-Step program for them while alleviating loneliness (many gerim are a certain kind of geeky-type that's vulnerable to depression). I have met some truly, truly sick people who needed FAR more than Carlebach and cholent. Almost all share a need for community (an almost universal need in an era lacking in community), experience

Re: right-minded gerim

[onionsoupmix]

Interesting. Someone recently sent me a rather vile quote comparing gentile souls to those of cattle and asked if it was attributable to Rav Kook, as websites claimed. I have no idea.

Re: right-minded gerim

[vz85]

I confess. I sent the ugly quote.

One translation is given here:

The difference between a Jewish soul… and the souls of all the nations, at all their levels, is greater and more profound than the difference between a human soul and the soul of an animal, for between the latter there is only a quantitative difference, whereas between the former there is a qualitative difference. (Orot Yisrael, chap. 5, sec. 10)

Some other sources appear to translate the same statement as "the souls of cattle." See here, here and here.

Re: right-minded gerim

[tesyaa]

When my oldest son was still in yeshiva, a first grade rebbe told the class that a Jew has the neshama of a person, but a goy has a neshama of an animal. My son is now in public school but that rebbe is still teaching in the same yeshiva. (And it's a modern Orthodox yeshiva, too).

Very typical

[vz85]

Not all of the comments were negative, but this is pretty typical Hasidic banter about all of us non-Jews. Esau hates Jacob, the goyim are de facto soulless animals, every goy is untrustworthy and/or motivated by self-interest, etc.

The Chareidi, of course, are always motivated by kiddush Hashem. If their behavior looks self-serving or bears the semblance of primitive tribalism, then you just aren't sufficiently acquainted with halacha.

What really amazes me is that non-Hasidic Jews, ranging from MO to Reform to secular Jews, so often pretend this kind of mentality doesn't exist among Jews--any Jews. I can't tell you how many times I've brought up uncomfortable statements from the Hasidim only to be told the following:

(1) "All the Hasidic Jews I know respect gentiles!"

In other words, they are superficially polite and avoid inciting chillul Hashem when dealing directly with non-Jews. (This is often true, but I've encountered a fair share of brusque and unpleasant Hasidim.)

(2) "How dare you bring this up! You're an

Re: Very typical

[onionsoupmix]

A Jew who points out these flaws is either 1) called a self-hating Jew or 2) told to check her ancestry to see if she really is Jewish.

Re: Very typical

[vz85]

A Jew who points out these flaws is either 1) called a self-hating Jew or 2) told to check her ancestry to see if she really is Jewish.

Yes, I've noticed the way that Chareidis routinely call the Yiddishkeit of their opponents into question whenever bad ultra-Orthodox behavior is brought to light in the Israeli media. You see this in the comments section of Haaretz, etc. You can't even notice nasty behavior without being labeled a hater.

If you are appalled that women were forced to the back of a bus in Jerusalem by Chareidi goons on some given occasion, then you are just an irrational self-hating yid. You undoubtedly feel guilty that you aren't upholding the mitzvot properly. You secretly wish you could be so devout.

I think there is a strong tendency in Jewish culture toward avoiding collective introspection. We're a long way from the days of Yirmayahu.

Re: Very typical

[sethg_prime]

Jews weren’t terribly good at collective introspection in the days of Yirmayahu, either. If they had been, we’d still have a Temple, right?

[hannahsarah]

What baffles me, is why you continue to read forums like that.

Personally, I don't think that goyim are evil or soulless, I just think that 99.9% of them are basically clueless. They can memorize all of the legal points of halacha, but I have to agree with some of the other posters, they really don't have the yiras shamayim.

[vz85]

That's fair enough. I thank you for your honesty, HS. I would interested in knowing what you believe about the position of non-Jews after Moshiach arrives.

[hannahsarah]

What you wrote below is pretty much what I was taught. *shrug* I'm not so wise that I can say that I know for a fact what will happen after we die. I can't say that I "believe" because I don't have any proof for something that hasn't happened yet. Still, it doesn't keep me awake at night or anything.

[vz85]

Thank you for your reply, HS.

I'm not so wise that I can say that I know for a fact what will happen after we die. I can't say that I "believe" because I don't have any proof for something that hasn't happened yet.
Why not? Judaism depends a great deal on concepts you cannot prove. Do you have any proof of the existence of souls--let alone their nature--beyond what you've been taught? Do you recall standing at Mount Sinai to receive the Torah in a past life, or do you just have that visceral feeling that your soul was indeed present