‘’Clowns to the left of me, Jokers to the right’’ is the opening line to the Gerry Rafferty song ‘’Stuck in the Middle with You’’ which Rafferty wrote to showcase his disdain for the music business and the way that music business ‘’suits’’ treated their talent.
I was listening to the song while reading the latest foul-mouth rant of Yitzhak Pindrus of the UTJ party. And we, the taxpayers of Israel pay this gentlemen’s – and I use the word in its broadest sense – salary.
For any ostriches around with their head buried in the sand – and who can blame – and for anyone else living on planet X, here is what this little, uneducated man had to say:
‘’Ultra-Orthodox MK: Women who convert to Judaism through IDF are ‘shiksas’’’
‘’Yitzhak Pindrus of UTJ party sparks outcry after declaring soldiers who convert during service aren’t Jewish and families of those who marry them should go into mourning’’
https://www.timesofisrael.com/ultra-orthodox-mk-women-who-convert-to-judaism-through-idf-are-shiksas/
The man is of course entitled to his opinion and is allowed to be as un-PC as he wants, and that I fully support and understand – the whole PC, woke, snowflake syndrome has gone too far. Everyone, myself included is entitled to voice our opinions.
What is not allowed is the disparaging of the IDF and those from across the spectrum of Israeli society who serve.
John Milton in his well-known poem on his blindness finished the poem with the line ‘’ They also serve who only stand and wait.’’
Not everyone can be a combat soldier, fighter pilot, or a member of an elite unit, but everyone who serves in the IDF, in whatever capacity is, in my eyes, fulfilling a ‘mitzvah beyond anything mentioned in the bible.
I have no idea, nor do I care, if this pitiful little man did or did not serve in the army. Many, maybe the majority of ultra-orthodox do not, they evade military service by any means they can. They are, and here I generalize, happy to take from the country, but are unenthusiastic about giving back. Not all. Take for example the ZAKA organization. Just yesterday, the same day that Yitzhak Pindrus was spouting his inane thoughts, it was made public that a true hero of Israel, Yehuda Meshi Zahav, an ultra-orthodox Jew and the founder of the ZAKA, an UN-recognized humanitarian volunteer organization, is to be honored with this year’s Israel Prize.
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/israel-prize-winners-deserve-the-honor-for-their-outstanding-work-660740
Yehuda Meshi Zahav is I suspect a bigger man than me and can embrace Pindrus and his runaway mouth.
It should not come as a surprise to anyone that huge sways of the ultra-orthodox youth are belligerent towards Israel and its institutions when they have mentors like Pindrus.
Rather than look to a pious man who works to honor life, they look to a nobody like Pindrus as a hero. How sick is that?
Pindrus has a right to his opinions, what he does not have is the right to disparage people and in doing so bring the Jewish people, here and around the world, into disrepute. There are enough non-Jews (and even a few Jews) around the world doing that.
I fear for Israel's future with people like Pindrus spouting his disparaging remarks to all. It’s not clear if the man is a clown or a fool, or maybe both.
Although there has been rightly uproar in the media, and various politicians from left and right have voiced disgust at Pindrus’s remarks, I have not heard a murmur from our ‘’benevolent dictator’’. Is it that he does not want to upset the UTJ by speaking out?
And will Moshe Gafni, the new head of the UTJ speak with Pindrus about his remarks? I suspect the latter will only happen if and when Gafni’s rabbi gives him instructions to do so. Which further shows who is the puppet master. _________________________________________________________________________________
N.B. – Shortly after posting the above, a somewhat related news story hit the ‘fan’.
UTJ party likens Reform and Conservative converts to dogs with kippot.
Full Story:
“Haredi party likens Reform and Conservative converts to dogs with kippot”
“United Torah Judaism campaign clip suggests High Court, which recently recognized non-Orthodox conversions, would also accept canines as members of the tribe”
https://www.timesofisrael.com/haredi-party-likens-reform-and-conservative-converts-to-dogs-with-kippot/
Quote from the Story:
“The video, published online, drew condemnation from opposition leader MK Yair Lapid, who said that with this message, UTJ had joined the ranks of anti-Semites who often compare Jews to dogs.”
“Lapid, who leads the secularist, centrist Yesh Atid party, criticized the video and recalled that his father, Tommy Lapid, a Holocaust survivor from Hungary, once told him that during World War II there was a big sign on the parliament building in Budapest declaring, “No entry for Jews and dogs.”
“Lapid wrote that “anti-Semites in every generation always compare Jews to dogs. Now UJT has joined them. Disgusting.”
Let’s take this a stage further; by extension the UJT tars and disparages every Jew who does not conform to their interpretation of Judaism.
It never ceases to amaze me that religion, a man-made phenomenon that is meant to unify man does more to destroy man. Just take a look at all the wars throughout history that have been caused by religion. And I do not mean Muslim/Christian or Muslim/Jew or Muslim/Hindu. Think about how Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland and elsewhere treat each other. Think about how Sunni and Shia Muslims treat each other. Or how Ashkenazi Jews treated and in some cases still treat Sephardic Jews. And add to that the treatment of Ethiopian Jews.
And so the narrow-minded, closeted leaders of the UTJ instead of reaching out to the various non-orthodox Jewish communities around the world, in one swoop they choose to demean Jews who view Judaism a different way. Stupid or what?
All this UTJ ad does is yet further divided the Jews citizens of Israel. I’m lost for words!
Talking of which, I have yet to see/read a comment from Benjamin Netanyahu decrying this outrage.
But again, why would he when he needs the UJT and Shas, who, just like the prostitutes they are, are interested in one thing and one thing only, money and power. They could not give a damn about the rank and file citizens of Israel.
Thinking about that last paragraph, I need to give a hearty apology to the “ladies of the night” who I suspect have far more integrity and honor than the UJT and its ilk.
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