www.aish.com

Anonymous #fundie #homophobia aish.com

[The movie this person is referring to is "Trembling Before G-d", a documentary about homosexuals in the Orthodox Jewish community.

Acceptance of homosexual behavior

I participate in a group in Jerusalem for people with homosexual attractions who want to reduce or change their homosexual behavior and/or attractions. There are currently about a dozen of us. I think I am therefore in a good position to evaluate "change" efforts. If people knew that these efforts involve working on assertiveness, self-esteem, and other aspects of character development, they wouldn't be so quick to dismiss reparative therapy and similar approaches. Harmful? Far from it. This is about personal development. I don't know anyone in our group who feels that they haven't benefitted from the experience.

[...]

Regarding the film, I recently attended a public screening of it at a Masorti synagogue, which was followed by an audience discussion. Some people saw this issue as being all about "tolerating people who are different", which is certainly a message promoted in the film, but I didn't see it that way. Should Orthodox Judaism allow openly-adulterous rabbis to lead congregations, or give public honors to intermarried congregants? So why should the community welcome openly-gay people, who are living with same-gender partners, as rabbis or synagogue presidents? Doing so would convey a lenient attitude toward something clearly contrary to Jewish tradition.

Emuna Braverman #fundie aish.com

[Mrs. Braverman defends a junior high school's sexist dress code that bans certain kinds of girls' pants that are "too tight."]

"Why should we have to dress differently just because the boys are distracted?" runs the tired yet familiar line from parents and teens. "Let them just control themselves."

[...]

Yes, everyone needs to learn self-control. But basic human nature can't be changed. It boils down to a simple idea that can't be repeated often enough. "If you don't want to be treated like an object, don't dress like one." It's not sexism; it's reality.

[...]

When they get married, our daughters won't want their husbands staring at another woman in those pants. And their husbands won't want another man staring at their wife.

Junior High isn't too early to teach this lesson and to encourage a sense of self among males and females that reflects character and not physicality. Let's get the "too tight" pants, "too short" skirts, "too provocative" blouses out of the way so that their true beauty can shine through and the serious learning can occur.

Rabbi Shraga Simmons #fundie aish.com

Judaism teaches that whatever occurs in life, there is a lesson to be learned. So what should society's response be to [the Columbine shooting] in Colorado? Is it really metal detectors that will solve the problem?

Perhaps we should ask ourselves why 50 years ago the top problems in America's public schools were:

• talking out of turn
• chewing gum
• making noise
• running in halls
• cutting in line
• dress code infractions
• littering

And today the problems are:

• drug and alcohol abuse
• pregnancy
• suicide
• robbery
• rape
• assault

Perhaps we should consider the overall effect of a society that teaches:

• objectification of woman (pornography)
• disloyalty (adultery)
• lack of commitment (divorce)
• rights over responsibilities (frivolous lawsuits)
• the blind pursuit of every whim (the unregulated proliferation of violent video games, funereal rock music, comic-book fantasies and apocalyptic films)

[...]

One forensic psychiatrist, specializing in children who commit multiple murders, examined the eight such crimes committed by U.S. schoolchildren in the last three years. His conclusion? The common denominator amongst these these children is that they had no connection with God.

jay draiman #fundie aish.com

The deterioration of family values R2 Sine World War 2 when women were encouraged to join the work force en mass, to replace the men who went to war and keep the economy and war effort going. There has been a trend where a mother was not at home to take care of her children, monitor their behavior, help with the homework and discipline when and where necessary. The advancement in technology has harmed family values. The Media and Television has totally destroyed any comprehension of values in our society. The lack of discipline and total disregard for authority and respect is clear to anyone who has watched the past 50 years and seen our society's values deteriorate.

[...]

In today's society a teacher is not permitted to discipline a student, the teachers will be sued, not to mention that teachers fears for their safety. Parents in today's society are also restricted as to how to discipline their children, in many cases parents are getting sued. In many cases children would never dream of treating their parents with such disrespect 50 years ago. Today some parents are afraid of their own children.

[...]

The family is the most basic unit of any society or nation. Without healthy, functioning families, a culture cannot survive. God created marriage as the unity of one man and one woman. This has been both the legal and traditional understanding of a marriage - literally - for millennia, since Eden. Sadly, many radical activist groups in the U.S. are attempting to twist the law to change the definition of marriage and the family to include same-sex "marriage," polygamy, polyamory, and other structures. These groups scoff at the idea that there is any fixed or known set of values or beliefs is generally good for families or culture. We should fight against numerous attacks on marriage and family values, including efforts to:

• Allow children unlimited access to pornography over the Internet in public libraries

• Allow those engaging in homosexual behavior to have preference to adopt children and be foster parents

• Allow those engaging in homosexual behavior to serve openly in the military

• Expose children to explicit sex education materials contrary to parental approval

• Deny parents the right the raise their children before God as they see fit

Emuna Braverman #fundie aish.com

Firstly, many women who enjoy their careers would still rather be home raising children if they have the option. This is their primary goal and desire. Sometimes they don’t even it realize it themselves. But it’s certainly not deceptive or manipulative. It’s very basic and primal. We call it the maternal instinct.

The second issue – her dependence on you – is also universal. It is in the established nature of male-female relationships that the woman is emotionally dependent on her husband. His love and approval are like oxygen to her. This metaphor is not an exaggeration. If deprived of this support, women feel as if they can’t breathe. And it doesn’t seem to matter how “independent” they were ahead of time.

Lori Averick #fundie aish.com

There is an abundance of evidence that suggests that America is indeed under attack and that Muslim terrorists have declared war on the U.S. Charles Jacobs, named by the Forward as one of America’s top 50 leaders, notes that "These are extraordinary times. We face daunting challenges for which there are no known answers. Chief among them are Islamic anti-Semitism and the global jihad that pose enormous, unanticipated threats to Jews around the world."

There are too few among us who are willing to connect the dots of these events and honestly acknowledge the gravity of our situation. Now is the time to band together and educate ourselves and our communities – before it is too late.

The methods of dealing with this threat must be elevated to a priority national debate. But in order to do so, the first step is that we must all -- in the words of renowned historian Bernard Lewis in the must-see documentary film on this issue, The Third Jihad -- “Wake up!”

Lauren Roth #fundie aish.com

God decides—on Rosh Hashanah, actually—how much money each person needs for his or her tasks in life. Some people are meant to have more money, others are meant to have less. But God apportions the amount, and it’s always for a good, Heavenly Decided reason.

Mark Steyn #fundie aish.com

Beyond the fashionable "anti-Zionism" of the Euro Left is a starker reality: The demographic energy not just in Lionel Bart's East End but in almost every Western European country is "Asian." Which is to say, Muslim. A recent government statistical survey reported that the United Kingdom's Muslim population is increasing ten times faster than the general population. Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Antwerp, and many other Continental cities from Scandinavia to the Côte d'Azur will reach majority Muslim status in the next few years.

Brussels has a Socialist mayor, which isn't that surprising, but he presides over a caucus a majority of whose members are Muslim, which might yet surprise those who think we're dealing with some slow, gradual, way-off-in-the-future process here. But so goes Christendom at the dawn of the third millennium: the ruling party of the capital city of the European Union is mostly Muslim.

[...]

You would think the deluded multi-culti progressives would understand: In the end, this isn't about Gaza, this isn't about the Middle East; it's about them. It may be some consolation to an ever-lonelier Israel that, in one of history's bleaker jests, in the coming Europe the Europeans will be the new Jews.

Emuna Braverman #fundie aish.com

[Some points from "Marriage and Giving: Primer for Women"]

Clothing. If we dress up for our girlfriends and put on old schlumpy clothes at home, we appear to be making a statement about our priorities, and how distorted they are. It is a kindness to our husbands to dress attractively for them. This may include wearing the styles and colors they appreciate as opposed to the ones we favor. (I'm still working on this one - trying to reconcile my love of fuschia and turquoise with my husband's preference for pastels).

[...]

Stay awake. [...] You may have to stay awake past your desired bedtime. Especially when your children are young. While this may not be easy, if you go to sleep early every night, chances are you and your husband will not be spending quality time together. If your husband needs to go out in the evenings - to learn, to work, to a charitable function, it is meaningful to him to come home and find you waiting up. It says "I care." It makes a house a home.

[...]

Cooking dinner. In today's world, if you suggest that women should dress nicely and cook delicious meals, you risk the label of Stepford wife. But there's nothing robotic about giving, about being considerate and thoughtful. While it may not always be possible, men like a home-cooked meal. It doesn't have to be gourmet [...] it just has to be made by you. And you need to take into account his likes and dislikes.

[...]

Be sensitive to his needs. If your husband likes to stay in at the end of a long day (they all seem to be long days!), try not to fill your evenings with social obligations and cultural events.

Standing Straight Before God #fundie aish.com

[This is in response to Sandi DuBowski's film Trembling Before G-d.]

Change is possible

As someone who struggled with homosexuality, as well as someone who is an orthodox Jew, as well as someone who is somewhat politically involved, this movie pained me. It pained me because of the intolerance towards people like me. I am someone who changed my "sexual orientation". I took it upon myself to go through therapy for my own personal beliefs in the Torah and am now happily married to a lovely lady with a second child on the way. I have no agenda of trying to get other people to go through what I went, but Sandi Dubowski, don't for a second claim to be showing the whole story of homosexuality in the Orthodox community. There are many people like me and we are deemed homophobic and intollerable by the gay rights activists as well as you. Again, I have no interest in trying to change anyone and I respect everyone's decision in life. But Sandi where is the recognition for what I did, and what many other men are struggling to do?

Emuna Braverman #fundie aish.com

Casual has no place in a Jewish home. Casual is not an attitude for a Jewish woman. This applies to women who work outside the home and women who work inside the home. And women who do both. Women with numerous graduate degrees and high school dropouts. Women with many small children and empty-nesters. Dressing to look attractive for your husband should be a priority.

[...]

Yes, it can be burdensome to feel compelled to dress up at home, to look nice when you want to lie around the house. But is that business deal more important than our marriage? Does that client's opinion carry more weight? Can our best friends never see us without make-up and our husbands never see us with it?

My kids might interject that I talk a good show. I've been known to indulge in casual attire at home, not always treating my marriage with the same attention as those long ago exams. But I know it's a mistake. And it doesn't always require a major effort. We don't need to change into "power" suits (my husband says I look like a linebacker in them anyway!) but how about putting on a little lipstick? Changing the shirt with the large stain down the front? Staying out of pajamas until it's actually bedtime? We will be teaching our children an invaluable lesson about the importance of marriage. And although we won't get any public accolades, we'll certainly receive many deeper benefits and pleasures. Because we don't really have a casual attitude towards our marriages. We really do give a hoot.

Barry #fundie aish.com

I married out of the Jewish religion when I was too young and did not think it mattered. My family acted as if I had committed murder.

n a way I did. I murdered the possibility of my children and grandchildren from continuing the long line of Judaism my family has gone through. Both my Parents even made it through the Holocaust and had me to continue the Jewish line.

The "Anything Goes" Attitude that has taken over the religion could be the death of our ancient religion. I have divorced because when it came down to the bottom line, I did not want to have Christian children running around asking for a Christmas tree and presents and the fact that I would have destroyed a line of a Jewish family. It would be comparable to an Inquisition or Holocaust. Judism would end in my family.

This is too important and I put off having children until our differences caused us to divorce each other. I feel relieved that I did not bring any non-Jews into the world. There is room for both religions but when it comes to marriage I believe one should stick to their own religion.

Anonymous #fundie aish.com

Was once interested in marrying a good Jewish woman and still am to some extent due to the belief that Hashem can turn one's fortunes around.

However since taking the Red Pill and realizing the depth of the Gynocentric Misandry that dominates much of the developed world where men now derive no benefit from marrying or cohabiting with women, whose hypergamy is now focused fighting each other over on the dwindling number of high-status or top 20% of men.

I struggle to reconcile with what the Torah says and the reality of marriage / relationships today where men stand to lose it all, unless they either live together separately and co-parent with women at best or remain single and opt for halakhic host surrogacy at worst since the opposite sex (backed by the state) has become a great liability for men to even associate with nowadays.

Recognizing my own relative lack of value or utility as one of the bottom 80% of men and observing the raw deal married or cohabiting men receive, along with the knowledge that women my age will likely accumulate even more baggage / bitterness towards men / debt as I grow older has for the past few years caused me to be extremely grateful to Hashem for allowing me to see the positives of being single and growing to become a man going his own way or a MGTOW.

Rosally Saltsman #fundie aish.com

Intermarriage has always been a problem among the Jewish people and it's mentioned in the Torah. I am not a politically correct person and I say that with pride. There is no need to skirt around our core values. Intermarriage has dealt as much of a death blow to the Jewish people as pogroms, terrorist attacks, the Inquisition and the Holocaust. This is not something we have to be nice about. It is a threat to our continuity and we have to regard it as an enemy. You don't pussyfoot around an enemy. One of the reasons intermarriage has been allowed to happen is that people don't want to make waves. I think we need to make waves if we're going to stop people from drowning. Intermarriage is not okay! Sure draw people closer with love but don't be accepting of intermarriage!

Rabbi Dov Lev #fundie aish.com

In the 1990s, John Gray's bestseller asserted that relationships can only be successful if gender distinctions are recognized and adhered to. For millennia, Jewish sources have taught that women's physiological and psychological needs are different from that of their male counterparts. In God's infinite wisdom, he delineated different responsibilities for men and women according to their respective metaphysical and physiological needs.

[...]

Since the beginning of mankind, all societies have recognized that a woman's sensitivity and warmth are ideally suited for motherhood. Moreover, the extraordinary feeling that men can never experience - nurturing a baby inside them - puts women in the position of being the best, most loving caregivers for their children. For the preservation of the family structure, and by extension the overall health of society, the Torah encourages women to embrace this role.

Emuna Braverman #fundie aish.com

[A woman writes to Emuna Braverman because she is frustrated with her husband ogling other women in front of her.]

I think you should begin by doing everything you can to keep his attention on you and your relationship. If you are going out together, dress up for him. [...] You may bristle at this advice. After all, he's making the mistake, why is it your responsibility. But the answer is that you are in this together and you want to make every effort to enhance your marriage. I do believe that the more attention a man gets from his wife, the less likely his eyes are to wander. Perhaps you've stopped trying, perhaps you take the relationship for granted, perhaps you're too tired to make the effort. We can never stop trying, we can never stop making the effort - not if we want our marriages to stay alive.

Tzippy #fundie aish.com

Every Single Time that Jews have tried to assimilate, G-d sends anti-Semitism to remind us to keep yearning and praying for messiah and return to Zion. Anti-Semitism is a "hidden blessing" because without it we would have assimilated and disappeared as a nation - much like all of the ancient empires of history. (ex. In Germany before WW2, the Jews said "Who needs Zion, Berlin is our Jerusalem.")

SusanE #fundie aish.com

[On a video against legalizing marijuana:]

About 55 years ago I heard a Chinese man say on a documentary TV news program. "We will overtake and ruin America. And we will subdue and ruin her from the inside using your own people". I didn't know what he meant but I do now.

Marya Steiner #fundie aish.com

Trading identity for the 'golden calf'

A large part of the blame for loss of Jewish identity can be placed on the Reform movement where diversity, multiculturalism and a misunderstanding of Tikkun Olam is emphasized.

[...]

One Jewish woman who married a gentile told me she would let her young sons decide if they wanted to be Jewish. She didn't want to "stuff it down their throat." Another confided in me that she would not circumcise her newborn son -- she would let him grow up and make that decision. I went home and wept.

ana #fundie aish.com

i used to wear verrrryyy revealing clothing

then i learned that the nazis used to force girls to take off their clothes all the time and that when the jewish girls were given clothing, it was just a small dress. i realized that if the nazis, who were brutalizing and killing jews, used little and no clothing as a way to demean jewish women, that i should think twice if i want to do this to myself. i realized that nazis yank off clothing and keep girls undressed in order to demean them, but i have a choice, and i chose to stop demeaning myself. it wasn't always easy at times, but the more a person does anything at all--including wearing revealing clothes, too, until it seems totally normal--the easier it becomes.

Azaria #fundie aish.com

G-d doesn't expect from us things we can't do - and this He clearly states: concept of marriage and children comes as a commandment. If somebody can't accept responsibility for having children - this just means he/she is not well spiritually and by analogy with physical health one should seek help or it (the ILLNESS) will progress. Sorry to put it so blunt but I say this because I care about you. I don't make the rules of the universe (nor physical nor spiritual) and it does work like this. Good luck to all of us. Seek the TRUTH. Pursue true Happiness. It's Difficult but WORTH it. :)

Lisa #fundie aish.com

Glamortization of suicide in mainstream media

How did the U.S. judicial system go from prosecuting and imprisoning Dr. Kavorkian to legalizing premeditated suicide? Affordable Healthcare Act, that's how. Add another option to the list of how to decrease the world's population. Mainstream mass media is the bible in which a majority of modern society determines their morals, values, ethics, good, evil, free will thought and choices to determine the world's future. The media executives know the herds of western world blind sheep has been brainwashed long enough since WW1 to believe what the media pumps out. Affordable Health Care & a doctor they strong-armed, took the opportunity to hand a young woman a pill to kill herself with even though real life ending suffering had not begun to manifest. Brittany Maynard family was only portrayed by the top media outlets as surrounding her in loving support for her choice to die and on her highly publicized glorious vacational bucket list trips. One news report slipped and quoted the mother saying "if Brittany asked me to care for her by changing her diapers and feeding her until she died, I would". If it fact Brittany Maynard is a real right to die story, it is a setup for all of north American people to accept the standard of care AFA determines for a patient based on a physician's diagnosis whether or not the diagnosis is correct. Forget about God and His standards. Only man's standards count. I refuse to to offer compassion to Brittany Maynard or Robin Williams. There's no published proof of a fatal illness and if we demand, suddenly privacy laws will be thrown up.

Howard #fundie aish.com

American Judaism like all permutations of liberal culture is a doomed enterprise. With no values other than the celebration of self it is unfulfilling and void of the type of meaning that allows and promotes the transfer of values across generations.. The real future of American Jewry is Chabad. They are the only group[ who care enough about Torah Judaism to teach their children and just as important to have children to teach.

Yonah Ginsburg #fundie aish.com

Although it is unpleasant to face up to our shortcommings -- individually & collectively-- a state of denial ensures that nothing will change.

This week''s parsha, Bechukosai, tells us once again why the Holocaust,and every expulsion, pogrom or collective disaster befell the Jewish people: We rejected H-shem and we ceased observing the Torah.

How many years will it take for this yearly message to be internalized & acted upon??!!

Not everybody who died in the Holocaust rejected H-shem and stopped observing the Torah. However, the Jewish people are unique in that we are collectively responsible for one another.

Chazal also tell us that when the Malach HaMavis (angel of death) is set loose, he is indescriminate, killing the tzaddikim along with those who rejected H-shem and His Torah.

If we ignore the "why" in "why did the Holocaust happen?", and only focus on the "what" as Mrs. Palatnik suggests, the problem H-shem identifies in parshas Bechukosai will never be solved.

Focusing on the "why" will lead us to the correct "how", the right way to solve our individual and collective problem of rejecting H-shem & the Torah.

Anonymous #fundie aish.com

Ridiculous reform

Sadly and tragically, reform and other movements think its fine to re create the laws, calling a child a Jew if they ha e a father who is a Jew. This is purely to serve the self cent redness of the parties who have no knowledge whatsover, of any Torah. The simple law is, from a Jewish mother, because she houses the baby and her blood food oxygen is the definition then the child is a Jew. End of. Why bother having reform, it's an excuse to just hang onto something Jewish, why not just dump it all, ? Because being a Jew is something g No Jew can forget, get rid of or leave. For all those married to Gentiles, my heart aches for you, try reading a good Jewish book from a proper Jewish source, reform amd conservative liberal etc, all are country clubs. Please save your poor children from the craziness of being screwed up. A Jew is a Jew. There are no halfs. I a an observant Jewish worn with lovely kids who respect all people, no matter what faith, sadly other Jews do not think their brethren deserve respect. Save your children from the confusion. Don't tell them they are Jewish if their. Other is a catholic, a Protestant or anything else. Very very sad. If you. Arry a gentile, that is the end result, gentile children, and you cannot change this fact. I know it's a hard pill, but, if you want Jewish, Marry a jew

Ahavah #fundie aish.com

[To a 29-year-old woman who is waiting for a more "stable" financial situation before having children:]

the reality, which you can read in any biology textbook, is that the childbearing years for human females are from about age 15 to about 30-35. After this, your eggs are starting to be defective, producing kids with ADHD and other physical and mental difficulties at a far greater rate, and worse - as each year past 30 passes your odds of being completely infertile without invasive and expensive medical treatment skyrockets. God designed women to be mothers first and to have college and careers later, when they're finished having children. The modern PC Feminist attitude completely disregards God's design and in unnatural and unsustainable. God never meant for women to wait until their natural childbearing years were over to get married and try to have children. Millions of women who tried this anyway are now inconsolably depressed when natural reality trumped PC modernism. Don't be one of these women. You're already very close to the end of your opportunity - don't expect God to provide you with miracles later if you knowingly snub the natural order. As many, many weeping women can tell you, most likely He won't.

Jessica #racist aish.com

[On an article about Amy Chua:]

The sad part of the whole article is the Jewish man who so pathetically married a Chinese woman. [...] This Tiger mother should really check her numbers before she makes a claim to fame- there are a billion Chinese and a tiny population of Jews. Who can show proportionately a higher success rate? She sadly misses one element to her story, her kids also inhereted their father's Jewish successful genes, too bad they were wasted on a goy.

Annie #fundie aish.com

I pity girls who delude themselves that they are liberated when they are simply making themselves cheap (see Friends, Sex in the City (ok, I have never watched the latter, but you know what I mean) and the ones you see in real life.

[...]

In my opinion, promiscuity must lead to lack of self-respect; how can you like yourself for being so intimate with someone you have just met & probably have nothing else in common with ?

I hate to see a big, bare pregnant belly; it looks ugly & it should be for the woman's husband to look at & nobody else Frankly, I prefer not to be in the hairdresser and have a huge, naked,swollen belly in my face; it isn't decent or modest. How can women be so immodest as to let everyone-men included- see something so intimate ?

The Victorians had the right idea (pardon my sweeping generalisation); they knew the value of gift-wrapping ! Orthodox Jewish women also (I suspect) know this !!!

Paysach Freedman #fundie aish.com

In an atheistic civilization, morals are intrinsically fluid, and subject to change. The natural goals of such a society can only be greed, might and power. It is survival of the fittest. He who owns the most, and controls the most, wins!

Atheism is worse than idol worship. Idol worship is polytheism, the belief in many powers. It is possible to progress from many gods to belief in one God. The prime example is Abraham. Originally an idol worshipper, he eventually came to the knowledge that there can be only one true Power. The road from many powers to one power is relatively short, since the individual accepts in principle that there is something directing the universe.

M. Gary Neuman #fundie aish.com

HOW DO YOU KNOW IF YOU'RE BEING UNFAITHFUL?

Consider your own personal relationships:

- When you hear a funny joke or good piece of gossip, do you first tell other colleagues? By the time you get home, have you chewed it all over so much at the office that you don't feel like telling that joke again to your spouse?

- Do you discuss all of your work problems (or issues involving volunteer work or other important things you are involved in) so thoroughly with colleagues that you're all talked out by the time you return home? Do you feel like it would take too long to review and explain the entire issue from scratch to your spouse?

- Do you go out alone to lunch or after work for drinks with members of the opposite sex?

- Do you enjoy harmless (by your definition) flirtation with someone of the opposite sex at a cocktail party?

- Do you believe that getting emotionally excited by flirting with someone of the opposite sex is helpful to your marriage? Do you think it helps educate you as to what you need more of from your spouse? Do you tell yourself that the juice you get from flirting brings more vitality to your marriage?

- Do you spend as long buying the "right gift" for a colleague of the opposite sex as you do for your own spouse?

- Do you share intimate issues about yourself or marriage with a member of the opposite sex?

If you're doing any of these things, you're being emotionally unfaithful to your spouse. You have only so much energy. If you're spending it with coworkers or outside the home and then getting home and feeling too tired to spend any more on your spouse, that's emotional infidelity. You're effectively relocating vital marital energy into the hands of others. Forget about where it might end up. Even if you never touch this other person, you have still used that person to relate to, and in doing so, you relate away from your spouse.

You may be shaking your head and disagreeing. But I've spent years helping couples pool their energies toward each other, and it has changed their marriage immediately. Stop all of these outside relationships and bring all your emotional and sexual energy home to your spouse, and you, too, will change your marriage immediately.

Sara Yoheved Rigler #fundie aish.com

One of the properties of the Jewish soul is that it cannot bond with any other type of soul. This is why intermarriage is ultimately a denial of one's essence. Marriage is a union of souls, not just bodies and hearts. A Jewish soul cannot unite with a non-Jewish soul any more than a helium atom can bond with any other atom. Not because helium is clannish or racist or snobbish - or any worse than a hydrogen atom, but because chemical inertness is simply one of its essential properties.

[...]

Anti-Semitism is the Divine equivalent of the parent of a diabetic child locking the cookie jar. A Jew in 15th century Spain or 20th century Germany or 21st century America may want to blend in with the surrounding society, but anti-Semitism is a sealed door, strong and black as iron, which keeps him out - and separate. Anti-Semitism keeps the Jewish people from dissipating into oblivion.

The ubiquitous effort to trace the source of anti-Semitism to the Jews remaining different and aloof - implying that assimilation cures anti-Semitism - is an inversion of the truth. Assimilation si not the antidote to anti-Semitism, anti-Semitism is the Divine antidote to assimilation.

Rochel #fundie aish.com

[To a mother struggling with the decision to be a stay-at-home mom or a working mom:]

STAY HOME, WORKING IS SELFISH

your child needs you and so does your husband. stay home and create a beautiful home for your family with the warmth that only you can create. your husband needs you to be his helpmate, not a rag that comes home after a long day's work. [...] It is unfortunate that the feminist movement has taken away our precious and priceless role in the home.

Asher Zelig #fundie aish.com

Fighting against these [BDS] movements is not really the answer. Why? Because its not them fighting us, but a message from God saying, "WHY DON'T YOU KEEP THE TORAH???" Antisemitism will not end until every Jew is keeping the Torah. We just passed the holiday of Purim. The Gemara tells us that the Jews of that time deserved to be destroyed because they were no longer loyal to God. That same decree is on its way once more, as Iran gets closer to building an atomic bomb, with no one really prepared to stop them. Now, as then, we have only one answer to the world's desire to destroy us, and that is for every single Jew on the face of this earth to return to God and keep His Word - the Torah. Yes, its a harsh message, but our history has shown that it is the truth. If we want to ever see the end of those antisemitic movements, its not enough to stand and scream "We support Israel," and smile nicely for the cameras. We must get together and stand and scream, "We support and keep the Torah, the Holy Word of God!"

JBDestiny #fundie aish.com

Mandatory paternal leave? In other words, it's somehow your employers’ responsibility to provide for your family for six months, while paying other employees to do Mom's and Dad's work, so you don't have to make hard choices. Well, YOU had the kids, not your employers. YOU need to make the choices for your family, not government. If Mom and Dad are both going "stay-at-home" for 6 months, they had better save up at least 6 months’ worth of funds. Who chose to have the kid(s), your employers? What if you have several kids close together - my two are 13 months apart? Employers need to pay for absentee employees who are gone for half a year at a time, once a year, in that case. Should Mom and Dad be given automatic promotions for time away, so they don't lose out on the career end, which accounts for the pay gap? Is any of this FAIR and EQUAL? I could point out more flaws, but I don't think you'll hear me. Men and women are DIFFERENT. We have different roles. We have different responsibilities. And if you want to confuse the two, have the decency to ante up your own funds! Here's a shocker: learning domestic skills and money management has nothing to do with mandatory leave for parents. Countless women of past generations had their kids and then entered the workforce and had satisfying careers. Neither feminists nor your mother invented this. I wish all you JULIAs (Obama video) would stop your crusade to "liberate" me. I'm exhausted and distracted because of people like you, JULIA. I don’t have the ability to think about what I want to do, because I’m so busy paying for the clever schemes of the JULIAs in this country!

Sara Ruth #fundie aish.com

[Reacting to Leora Eisenberg's "Why I Choose to Dress Modestly"]

I am all applause for your article EXCEPT: You say "religious fundamentalism" as if it is a dirty thing. Fundamentalism is strict adherence to [ones faith], ...[where religious teaching] is taken literally and obeyed in full. When a person follows [doctrine], both [the] literal and implied, this is fundamentalism. For me, there is no other reason to be "religious". We either believe Gd or we don't, we either believe we have His Word or we don't and if we DO believe in Gd and we believe we have His command to us but we have no intention of following its fundamentals, what is the point? In reality, that tells us clearly that we do NOT believe that we can know anything about Gd by HIS Words or that we can even trust our sacred books to BE His Word; so we absolutely cannot believe in the faith we profess. I know; "the Jewish community must keep its identity". But I cannot fathom why because it is Gd who gave this "identity" and if we doubt and/or reject the fundamental teachings of Gd...I am just saying, what IS the point? IF you believe in Gd and believe Gd's Word, religious fundamentalism is not just a GOOD thing it is the ONLY thing. We cannot seriously believe Gd is Creator, that He is Sovereign, and yet say "We see your law and You are too strict, You are 'outdated'. We will do SO MUCH but NO MORE because we will not believe You actually meant what You said or at least that You meant for it to stand for us. We will decide what You mean and 'interpret' it where WE deem necessary and in OUR idea of the kind of god we actually believe You are." That will never do; it would never do for a human king and it will surely never do for our Gd. Gd is STILL Noah's Gd. Gd is STILL Avraham's Gd. Gd is STILL Moshe's Gd. Gd is STILL David's Gd. Gd is STILL the Gd of the Prophets. Gd did not change. It is not likely He left us a Word that would become "outdated" or "optional", especially not before Messiah. If we don't believe that, why "believe" at all..is it just me?

Chana #fundie aish.com

["I am doing a persuasive speech on this topic for college, and I am for it. I fell that if you have the right to determine the outome of a pregnancy you should have the right to choose the determination of your future."]

You certainly do NOT have a right to determine the outcome of a pregnancy - abortion has become to prevalent, but what exactly makes it any less murder than the killing of a child outside the womb? In my last pregnancy I was advised to "terminate the pregnancy" due to my having CMV. "Terminate the pregnancy." A cleaner way of saying "kill the baby". All society now needs to do is refer to child murder as "terminating childhood" and that makes it a tad more innocent.. and another step in the direction this world has been taking toward Sedom-like laws. You and I and everyone else have absolutely no right to terminate ANY life - whether in the womb, outside, or on a hospital bed. It is only for God to decide. Terrible stories have been told about terminating seemingly "pointless" lives - every moment of which was in fact offering the victim extra merits in the world to come, now "terminated" by those who supposedly loved him - and the suffering it had brought. Who are we to take the fate of another into our hands????

Anonymous #fundie aish.com

["I am an atheist and from my experience, I find religious people are very insincere and hypocritical as what they profess is contrary to their actions. Secular humanism works for me and since I have never truly seen religion transform people's lives, I have therefore reached the conclusion that one can actually be ethical and humane without any need for God."]

Just go to a place where there is no concept of the Jewish G-d

Try India. Can you imagine that level of poverty and human suffering taking place in a Western country? they don't take care of each other. the idea of I am my brother's Keeper is not part of their moral landscape. It's a Jewish idea. And it permitates all of western society. People don't get to that idea on their own. It's not a natural human drive. People who live in western culture and say they are athiests and believe that they would be who they are without any religion are kidding themselves. They live in a culture where there is ethical and moral herd immunity: as long as there is a suffiecent number of believers in the population, the society will project Jewish values and protect those who have rejected G-d.

Sara #fundie aish.com

[On the "marriage crisis":]

I think increase and or create a high tax for those who are single,especially males.Next thing to do is for the government to stimulate marriages by giving the new couples a free apartment, or something like that like for example a free 20 percent down payment,stimulate each other more when we see single man and woman around us try to make them meet and see if they can commit for marriage,and oh yeh government should stop helping pregnant woman that are not married,so they will think it would be good to be married and than have babies....

Dvirah #fundie aish.com

Provocation in the Workplace

I'm quite sure modest dress in the work environment would be a great relief to male coworkers. Indeed, I often think that there is justification for suing for sexual harassment with what some of their female colleagues come to the office wearing!

Rebecca #fundie aish.com

I challenge all those who dress with no attention to modesty to explain how baring their bodies to men does anything to liberate themselves. [...] If we want society to treat us as liberated females why would we ever dress in ways that imply that our worth is based solely on how much sexual pleasure we can give to random men we pass on the street?

How is making our bodies for men's sexual fantasies liberating, especially when we have no control whatsoever what the men who see them are thinking about??? Once you show your body immodestly, you can never take that back. The image will remain in the memory of the men who see it, and they are free to do whatsoever with your image.

It used to be that men paid women to use them for sexual purposes. If that wasn't bad enough, today's society encourages women to let men use them for free.

Tziporah Heller #fundie aish.com

Women's quest for external power has left a frightening vacuum in Western society in the area of moral training, where women formerly held sway. Rampant crime, child abuse, kidnapping, and the dramatic rise in violence against women are symptoms of a society gone amok, where many people have no concept of right and wrong, of honesty, fairness, compassion or self-control.

Today's internal decadence is eroding the quality of life in America as fast as external political and technological advantages are improving it.

Clearly, the lot of women cannot be improved by political and financial progress if the inner dimension of society -- its morals and compassion -- is neglected by the very people who have traditionally been made its custodians: women.

A typical male analysis of such political problems customarily blames them on external factors, e.g., low income families in impoverished neighborhoods inevitably leads to a high rate of violent crime, substance abuse, etc.

If this were true, then Jerusalem's religious neighborhood of Mea Shearim, which has one of the highest poverty rates in Israel and where families typically number seven to ten children in a three-room flat, should be a hotbed of violent crime. Instead, Mea Shearim has virtually no violent crime and very little substance abuse, this despite the total absence of policemen on its streets.

[...]

Thus, defined Judaically, the issue is not whether women should or should not have power, but rather on the kind of power on which they should concentrate, both for their individual development as well as for the good of the whole society.

Garry Skiar #fundie aish.com

Jewish libneralism is a death wish.

About thirty years ago, I attended a lecture at the UJA Leadership Development Council on a similar subject. I asked, during the Q &A if Jewish liberalism is really a death wish. This was greeted by hooting and laughter from the audience until the speaker replied in the affirmative. It was then followed by a deathly silence. Thirty years later, we are still dealing with the same rubbish, and the same death wish.

Anonymous #fundie aish.com

With intermarriage, no one will have to murder us- we will do it for them

Intermarriage is, in fact, the ultimate assimilation. At the rate we're going in the non-observant world, There will be no more "unobservant" Jews left in a few more decades... and the observant Jews might not be that far behind! Intermarriage will complete the mission of the Nazis and the Muslims and the other anti-Semites and rid the world of Jews. It seems that intermarriage is the PC way to let your family and the world know that you no longer wish to be Jewish!

David #fundie aish.com

[David writes about his "journey to straightness."]

Facing the Truth

To solve a problem you must admit it exists.

You can deny it - but then you must keep on denying, as reality mounts around you. From the first kink of self-serving untruth, you can, like a snail, build a crooked little world of your own.

[...]

In our generation those who struggle with homosexuality have the option of wrapping themselves in the gay liberation narrative. The mantle of chic victimhood quiets a lot of the inner distress - for a while. The haunting sense of otherness folds in on itself to become a virtue. It feels wonderful to finally renounce that sense of being less than a normal man by declaring you are something else entirely.

But it's a false identity. As I saw up close, brave statements do not end the compulsive search for masculinity. There is no resolution, no revelation of true self.

Michelle #fundie aish.com

Michelle Obama our first lady is a disgrace to all first ladies. She dresses as no first lady ever dressed before. I always tell myself that this just shows the extent of the moral decent of our society- having OUR first lady dress as if she thinks she's a hollywood actress. With no sleeves, tube-dresses, her back showing, etc. This has NEVER in the history of the united states ever happened. First women ALWAYS wore suits and modest attire. That is until Mrs. Obama came along. The presidential inauguration was more like a Hollywood Debut than a presidential inauguration. If you want to look it up for yourself just youtube ''Michelle Obama Inauguration" you can see for yourself. The first lady is supposed to be the prime example of what our american women should be. Our president's wife is exactly the opposite of what this article is trying to stress. With her dress and how she presents herself she is promoting 'dressing to turn heads' and dressing like a prostitute. She has absolutely no class or modesty.

Anonymous #fundie aish.com

[On a woman who found that psychiatric medication helped her cope with post-partum depression:]

what this lady really learned

"...the gift of the psychotropic medication available which literally change the brain's chemical dysfunction back to a normal setting...."

What a lie! Any honest psychiatrist will admit as much. What the drugs DO is numb the person's emotions which obviously has its benefits at times. And yes, other commenters have noted, often horrible side effects and horrific withdrawal symptoms. What this lady really learned - what we all need to learn - is, as she wrote, that God is in control, not us. "Why can't I cope?" Because "I" am nothing. If i don't turn to God for the ability to cope, then where do i think i'm getting my ability from? From myself? So-called PPD and indeed any other mental "illness" is just one big wake-up call that we are not in control of our lives and that all the things that we thought we were living for are nothing but air-headed illusions. The question is: Do we want to wake up, or would we prefer to continue to delude ourselves - until it's too late?

Anonymous and Mike #fundie aish.com

[Anonymous and Mike discuss their "negative experiences" in Reform congregations.]

Anonymous: In another Reform congregation, the Lesbian rabbi married her female partner (who had converted to Judaism) under a chuppah! So, not to sound prejudiced, but the same rabbi has been converting other gays to Reform Judaism (she has a book on how to do it in ten minutes) and marrying them. It goes agains all Orthodox and Torah values for men to marry men and women to marry women. So, it is not just assimilation that is killing American Jewry, the same Jewish organizations are promoting a watered down form of Judaism that I do not call Judaism. I know somewhere it says that Jewish leaders who lead Jews astray are committing one of the worst sins.

Mike: I also had an experience with a friday night reform service that I attended, not knowing what reform was about, and it was quite hair-raising, I think the highlights were: openly gay rabbi, playing electrically amplified music on shabbat (with boyfriend), being happy seeing intermarried couples, and inviting an anti-semitic lutheran priest and being upset that people interrupted the priest when we was bashing Israelis, and at the end of the 'service' (I actually do not remember any prayers of any kind), encouraging the sale of products on shabbat for charity.

Anonymous #fundie aish.com

[Another commenter celebrates feminism's advancements with regard to women's choices, awareness of sexual violence, and the LGBT movement.]

It seems like your definition of feminism is for a woman to be able to do what she wants. In Judaism, expression of feminism is to be able to do what G-d wants. The freedom that society has engendered is not necessarily a good thing, as such freedom can lead to being bound by our passions, which can lead to a frivolous life. Instead, the freedom to control our passions, is what we aim for and why such magazines [Cosmo] our so detested.

Sara Yoheved Rigler #fundie aish.com

[This is from an article titled "Jewish Identity: Are You In or Out?"]

In our generation, many Jews have renounced their Jewish identity in favor of becoming "citizens of the world." Their political views have led them to identify with the enemies of the Jewish People.

[...]

[A]larm bells rang a couple years ago when a study revealed that 50% of American Jews under the age of 35 would not consider it "a personal tragedy if the State of Israel ceased to exist." Two months ago an American Congresswoman declared that the Jews of America had sold out Israel in their support of Obama's diplomatic surrender to Iran's nuclear program.

The nadir of this abandonment of support for Israel is the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) movement, which actually has some Jews among its supporters. [...] The starkest defection from the Jewish People is to side with those sworn to our destruction. According to Jewish law, every person born to a Jewish mother is Jewish, even if s/he converts to another religion. But a Jew needs to minimally cast his/her lot with the Jewish community to be redeemable.

[...]

The Passover Seder speaks about four sons. Only one of them is cast as "wicked." As the Hagaddah states: "The wicked son, what does he say? 'What is this service to you?' 'To you,' but not to him. Because he excludes himself from the community, he is a heretic. ... Say to him, 'Because of what God did for me when I went out of Egypt.' For me, but not for him, because if he would have been there, he would not have been redeemed."

The first Passover marked the birth of the Jewish nation. Every Passover since poses the challenge to every Jew: Are you in or are you out?