"Asking for a Friend"

Watch Here

Scroll down to the 10:00pm slot. It's always a ton of fun.

Maybe one day they'll ask some real questions. For now they're catering to the Harries and Larries and their ballgames and sushi. First world problems with a Flatbush Jewish twist. Maybe one day Rabbi Brudny will cross the "dreaded" line and open a chassidishe sefer - not just a sterlized piece of Sfas Emes or Reb Tzadok, but like heavy chassidus. I think he's ripe for it. I think he really wants to but he needs a helping and guiding hand. His transformation these last few years has been quite remarkable; going from a rigid איש גבורה to a much kinder, gentler person who understands the difficulties that face Jewish youth today. Rabbi Elefant is another story for another time.

"I'm asking for a friend"

Moderated by the very talented @srulibesser

I've never had the pleasure of listening to R' Elefant, but he makes זייער א גוטען איינדרוק. Seems like a calm and collected man of discipline, without the Yeshivishe shtick. They say he's a Gerrer Eynikel by mariage, by way of Farbstein, Heine, for those in the know.

Good Reading and a picture for your Thursday (and maybe some thoughts on AIC93)

That's Agudath Israel Convention 93...

Rav Moshe Mordche Epstein and Rav AY Kook in NYC, 1924

Chabad's Oldest Outpost Lingers on in Casablanca 
Muslims and their OTD/Radicalization problem
A Pilot and Holocaust Survivors are Reunited in Brooklyn

The link to the WNYC program about Muslims and their radicalization problem was inspired by this year's convention, which seemed to put some emphasis on our OTD problem. After listening to speeches about Achdus and underpaid Rebbis, we heard lots of talk about OTD, which by the way, is now to be known as XO, for X-Orthodox. This according to Eli Fink. Muslims have the opposite OTD problem. Their youth is being radicalized online, and our youth is going the other way, often quite radically, as well. Especially if you saw yesterday's news...So what we need to do is show our presence online. By our presence I mean normal, frum Jews doing everyday stuff, peeling potatoes for kugel and on Chol haMoed trips, raking leaves and making snow malochim. Stuff normal people do. That'll keep our kids from eating from the forbidden fruit.  Seems like this is Agudah's will to be the solution to every problem pertaining to the frum community under the sun. Soon they'll be providing filtered internet and shoes for Pesach. G-d bless them, if they can do it, but it seems like they're stretching themselves way too thin here. Focusing on too many issues depletes manpower and money. Maybe if they focused on getting money for Yeshivos and busing, and little else they would do a better job at it. From the clipping in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle it seems like some things haven't changed. They did the same thing 90+ years at the 1st KG in Vienna. Except that back then there were no solutions, all you could tell them was that the gates of hell awaited them. I imagine they didn't bring Psychologists and mental health professional onto the dais back then, and didn't talk about hugging kids smoking on Shabbos either....

Gotta run...

מאנטיקער לינקען

CJR profiles frum newspapers
US Cards finally using fraud-fighting chips
Make this Your convention!
Today's Chassidishe Yungeleit...

SO who did the Russian Refusenik better?

You may have noticed that the Agudah convention had a Russian Refusenik as its highlight, as did the Chabad Shluchim convention. Who came up with the idea first is anybody's guess. Yuli Edelstein may not be a Jew with a beard and peyos, and he may not have been in the gulags for 11 years, but he's an impressive story nonetheless. Besides, what connection does Mendelevitch have to the Agudah? Maybe you can fill me in on the details. I asked a friend of mine who tolerates Lubavitch what he thought: who "did" Russian Refusenik better, Chabad or the Agudah? So he gave me a self-righteous "Mendelevitch is a real frum Jew," so of course the Agudah convention is a better place for a frum Jew. The kinus haShluchim was all pump. Whatever. I suppose if maybe Rabbi Kotlarsky or Rabbi Krinsky would've knocked those who go up to the har haBayis he'd be happy. Or if we spoke about the tuition crisis, which is THIS close to being solved, as we know. To compare the two conventions is to compare  ----- you fill in the blank. Apples, oranges, whatever. Although both conventions may be looked at as self-congratulatory events, the comparisons basically end there. One congratulates the work of shluchim, the other can be looked at as a way to spend some of the money salting away in the bank. Sorry, I couldn't help myself there. But why do we bicker and fight like children here? There's enough to go around.

Agudath Israel pretends not to have a website

Let's see how many websites we can come up with that don't officially say AI:
1) Association to Preserve the Historical Legacy - דאס אידישע ווארט
 2) Your Convention - not ours
3) 119 Agudah Videos
4) Lefkowitz Leadership Initiative
5) Chaim Aruchim
6) Legal Support Services, LLC
7) Home Program
8) The J.O.
9) AIA 2014 Dinner
10) Professional Career Services
11) Cope Institute

WHATEVER

They take it all, your ideas, your slogans

 

No shame. Using Uforatzto as their theme song. The nerve! Since when do AI conventions have theme songs and videos anyway? What's next? farbrengens and kinus HaShluchims? 

Comment of the Century

Here's what one reader had to say on VosIzNeias' post about the Kinus HaShluchim Banquet Last Night


"I have to admit, having watched video segments from both the Chabad and Agudah meetings, it was like watching a chassanah versus a levayah and I'll let you guess which was which. One was upbeat, positive and rejoicing in what Hashem has done for Yiddeshkeit and will continue doing, and the other was a nonstop cry of "Gevalt, Yidden!" and how we've all gone off the derech and need to do major league tshuvah. Maybe next year, the Agudah will simply cancel their convention and attend as guests of Chabad (I'm sure the shalichim will enjoy the opportunity of doing some really heavy duty outreach..." )

I chose to leave the comment as is to let you see the mood out there.

My head hurts...

See also Reb Elya Brudny

Part I

Part II