Inane Comment Thread of the Day

Question: How do you top this?

"News Flash: Men are inherently less spiritual and religious than women."

Answer: With this:

"Contrary to what Rabbi Menken wrote, great gedolim, such as the Maharal,the Taz, the Mogen Avrohom, the Shevet Mussar and others wrote that actually men have higher spirituality than women."

So which is correct? Teiku.

Postville, Iowa Redux

We were so warmed by what we heard in August about the reception for the Hasidic newcomers to Scranton, New York, we thought for a moment we're in John Lennon world.

Real estate broker Terri Backus said a housing boom in The Hill section of Scranton and a drive by Mayor Chris Doherty to usher in new business has lured the families - some with eight children and counting.

"They do have large families, and to buy a large house in Brooklyn from what I understand is very tough," said Backus. "But in The Hill section the typical homes are older, larger and more affordable."

The exodus from Williamsburg and Borough Park started in June after Backus took out ads in a local Jewish paper and on a popular Hasidic phone line.

And now someone's gotta spoil the fun.

Al Alunni, a Moscow resident who previously lived near the Satmar Hasidic community of Kiryas Joel in Orange County, N.Y., attempted to talk about the experience there. He was cut short by Dr. Johnson, who tried to keep the discussion focused on the city’s long-established Orthodox Jewish community and its beliefs and practices.

“I understand what they’re talking about,” Mr. Alunni said later, “but I don’t think they understand what’s coming here.”

Now, now. You may know Satmar, but you don't know Nadvorna. Different hats, different socks, altogether different breed.

Alvin Greenwald, a real estate agent who helped facilitate the Brooklyn group’s planned purchase of the school and who was part of the audience, said its members are religious and law-abiding but keep to themselves.

“These are very shy people,” Mr. Greenwald said. “They don’t look outward.”

Right.

“It was very informative, but we really need someone from that group here,” North Webster Avenue resident Patricia McGovern said.

You think? I'm sure the chasidim were just busy, you know, getting over the holidays, taking down their Sukkahs, or something. Otherwise, reaching out to new neighbors is precisely their thing.

Moses and the Plagues, Revisited

It's been a few months since I read this (pdf), but I just got an urge to post this link.

I’ve been intrigued about Shalom Auslander from when I first heard some audio clips from his book Beware of God (blurbs: "Heretical. Hysterical." - Esquire Magazine; "Rubbish." - God), but I hadn’t read much else by him. The above piece of writing, though, is phenomenal.