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    • Mishegas

A Bissele Mishegaas

  • Sarah Palin is the victim of a blood libel! Or um, maybe? Depending on what blood libel means?
  • Religious Zionist Rabbi Dov Lior says that women shouldn’t use non-Jewish sperm in IVF because it leads to “barbaric offspring.” Also, children of single mothers will become “criminals.”
  • An Ohio science teacher evidently has been taking to burning images of the cross on his students’ arms.
  • Ten Ultra-Orthodox women will enlist in the IDF, have been granted permission to bring their young children along.
  • Some snarky imaginings of the rides at Disney World Haifa.
  • Keshet is looking for the next great GLBT Jewish kids’ book. Did you (will you) write it?
    • January 12, 2011
    • Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg
    • 12

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    12 comments

    1. Avatar
      formermuslim
      January 12, 2011 at 1:32 pm

      “Sarah Palin is the victim of a blood libel! Or um, maybe? Depending on what blood libel means?”
      Oh for the love of G-d! Not every sentence has to be subjected to a 4 level meta-analysis.
      And the analogy fits anyway.

      Reply
    2. Avatar
      Jonathan1
      January 12, 2011 at 2:11 pm

      Ten Ultra-Orthodox women will enlist in the IDF, have been granted permission to bring their young children along.
      The sheer horror of it all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

      Reply
    3. Avatar
      Tweets that mention A Bissele Mishegaas | Jewschool -- Topsy.com
      January 12, 2011 at 2:13 pm

      […] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Jewschool.com, J-Comm. J-Comm said: A Bissele Mishegaas: Sarah Palin is the victim of a blood libel! Or um, maybe? Depending on what blo… http://bit.ly/eyXfl7 Jewschool […]

      Reply
    4. Avatar
      Victor
      January 12, 2011 at 2:44 pm

      Are they “Ultra”-Orthodox, or “Super Ultra”-Orthodox, or “SUPER DUPER Ultra”-Orthodox. I dislike “haredi” also, but at least it’s a generalization people call themselves. Do any of you know someone who calls themselves “ultra”-orthodox? I know hundreds of observant Jews, and none of them refer to themselves as such. If not, why do we keep using that term?

      Reply
    5. Avatar
      Danya
      January 12, 2011 at 3:43 pm

      Victor, to make the blog more accessible to readers who don’t know what “haredi” means. I chose translation over inaccessibility.

      Reply
    6. Avatar
      Victor
      January 12, 2011 at 4:10 pm

      I understand. It’s the language that UPI used in their article. I wasn’t attacking you, just questioning the use of the term. Besides carrying undertones of “otherness” and extremism, “ultra-orthodox” is really not a very helpful descriptor, grouping together people of significant diversity. Are they Chassidic, Litvischers, Oriental? We don’t know.

      Reply
    7. Avatar
      KRG
      January 12, 2011 at 4:21 pm

      See BoingBoing on blood libel
      http://www.boingboing.net/2011/01/12/sarah-palin-and-bloo.html

      Reply
    8. Avatar
      Larry Kaufman
      January 12, 2011 at 5:08 pm

      Victor dislikes the term ultra-Orthodox because it connotes otherness. Isn’t otherness exactly what they seek?
      I don’t see why it matters one iota what sub-group of right-wing Orthodoxy they belong to. Charedi too is subject to the same distinctions. But I don’t think Danya need have backed off the word on this blog — perhaps explaining that it’s the catchphrase for those who dress, pray, and think as if they were in eighteenth century Poland.
      Meanwhile, as to Sarah Palin being the victim of a blood libel — as long as she’s a victim, that’s fine with me.

      Reply
      1. Avatar
        BZ
        January 12, 2011 at 7:43 pm

        Non-haredi Orthodox Jews should oppose the term “ultra-Orthodox”, since it implies that the haredim are like them, only more so.

        Reply
    9. Avatar
      Victor
      January 12, 2011 at 9:24 pm

      BZ, I don’t like “Modern Orthodox”, or “Reform” or any other labels, for that matter, but at least that’s what “Modern Orthodox” or “Reform” Jews call themselves. Maybe there are people who call themselves “ultra-orthodox”, but I’ve never met them, despite knowing a large number of chassidim and litvischers. “Ultra-orthodox” is what some Jews have termed other Jews, with a certain elitist derision and glee. Why should we celebrate and prolong bigotry?
      These Jewish mothers being inducted into the IDF are not “ultra-orthodox”. They subscribe to faith-movements within the Jewish people. Since when is the onus on minority groups to coral under one banner – a foreign banner not of their making – for our sake, because we’re too lazy and ignorant to know the differences among them? It’s like saying that all black people look the same.

      Reply
    10. Avatar
      Dave Boxthorn
      January 12, 2011 at 9:25 pm

      @ point 6
      Its easy to find people who want to be an ‘author’. But if LBGT people have as many children as, well, Debbie Friedman did, who will read such a book?
      Cart, see horse.

      Reply
    11. Avatar
      B.BarNavi
      January 12, 2011 at 11:34 pm

      Shorter FM:
      Only WE are allowed to use wild analogies as we see fit.

      Reply

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