Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Shul for Scandal

Let's say you're in synagogue, praying on the holiest day of the year. You learn that someone you think is a big sinner is in the synagogue also. Do you:

  1. Rejoice that this person is praying and confronting their life story?
  2. Heckle loudly to interrupt everyone's prayers and force them to leave?

http://nypost.com/2013/09/09/sex-abuse-victim-shamed-during-synagogue-prayers/

This person's actions show they have no clue why synagogues exist.

And where was the rabbi while this was taking place? That the jerks act out is sadly expected in our wonderful Jewish Taliban societies. Where is the rabbi that is supposed to keep order and provide a role model? Sitting on his hands.

In the story of Kamza and Bar Kamza, that the Rabbis did nothing is the true cause for the series of events leading up to the destruction of the Temple. Maybe they don't learn Kamza and Bar Kamza in Satmar on Tisha B'Av.

Jewish Taliban is sadly and nauseatingly appropriate for Satmar and its handling of the Nechemya Weberman scandal, and subsequent events.


1 comment:

Unknown said...

These are two complex situations, (1) the social interaction side of the "female snitch" (both treated with disdain in that society), and whether the Rabbi is the one who should be a handler of such situations, versus somebody not clergy to allow the clergy to maintain their spiritual poise during/after the situation, and (2) the mis-addressed (or mis-routed) e-invite to a probably-asperger's recipient (who also was a snitch of the same kind, as the romans played the same role as the NYPD in Williamsburg). Both cases need a facilitator to calm down the situation. In neither case are the hot heads "right" or the authorities "right". This is a multi-beer discussion.