A Good Start

I was heartened to see that the front page of The Five Times Jewish Times included 2 articles, including one from the editor that seemingly condemned the Haredi nuts in Beit Shemesh. It is the right call and shows an inclusiveness that is not always apparent in that publication. Considering that the same issue includes a front page story that is trivial and divisive, it shows a tolerance that should be commended. The trivial story I refer to is by Rabbi Yair Hoffman who takes issue with an article written by Rabbi Michael Broyde that allows non-religious celebration of New Years and Valentines day. Trivial because the 5TJT readership is not likely to celebrate New Years or Valentines day, and divisive because those of us that do celebrate those holidays do so with completely secular motives. Rabbi Hoffman would serve his readership and the Jewish community better by musing on the Halacha of embarrassing fellow Jews and harassing children in the public arena.

I would also like to point out that while editor Gordon denounces the extremism he uses a poor example to highlight why the story is no big deal. True Mr. Gordon, Iran is still developing nuclear missiles and the Assad regime is still slaughtering Syrians in unprecedented numbers, but a better example might have been to compare the extremists to the religious police in places like Iran and Saudi Arabia. The Iranian missiles are getting plenty of attention and so is Syria. What we need to be doing as Jews is highlighting the difference between us and those extremists in other religions. We need to compare apples to apples, religious coercion is the issue and Jews just don't march to that beat. We should be letting the world know that our ultra religious extremists are a fringe that is condemned even by our - hardliners.

While the 5TJT front page is a good start the pressure needs to be kept up. The current Israeli government while condemning publicly the violence must take greater action to end it. The embarrassment to Judaism and Israel is real, Mr. Gordon points out that now those that hate us that will now say there is no difference between us and them, he's right and we must consider how our behavior is seen by the rest of the world.