Comments on: Jack Abramoff: ‘Scholar of Talmudic Studies’

By: Gentile Joe

Gentile Joe — Thu, 05 Jan 2006 11:24:39 +0000

“If we could stop religious hatreds of all stripes & varieties the herd mentality would go the way of the dodo bird.”

Thank you for the prompt reply. I’m impressed and agree with the statement above.

I spent some time on your website and believe that’s what you are working toward. Will that day ever come? Let’s hope so.

But I must say, there is no excuse to hate Goyim or any other race as a whole. I can hate idealogies. I can hate political movements. I can hate opinions and I can hate actions. But an idea is not exclusive to any one race and exceptions must be allowed for the individual.

Example, not all Zionists are Jews, not all Jews are Zionists.

One of my best friends is a gentile and rabbid zionist…blindly passionate. We are at odds on this issue and it has put a strain on the relationship at times. That he is Jew or Gentile in my mind is beside the point. It’s the idea I take issue with, regardless of the race.

I enjoy your website, your opinions and you blogs. But I would like to see you take the likes of Schmilke to task when they make sweeping generalizations like that. After all, I would say most Goyim are oblivious and completely indifferent to the Jewish question. Most go about their day in their trivial pusuits, completely unaware. Is there Anti-Semetism out there? I’m sure there is, but I can’t imagine the ratio is wide enough to justify a generalization like that. Hardly.

I may be ignorant and naive on the matter though. Can you give me an example of anti-semitism demonstrated amongst the majority of gentiles? If not, and it is indeed a minority, then my point is validated.

I eagerly await your reply.

Joe.

By: Richard Silverstein

Richard Silverstein — Thu, 05 Jan 2006 00:58:56 +0000

So, the gentiles are out to schect Abramoff? That’s a kind of sweeping racial generalization that would get a gentile labeled an Anti-Semite if the shoe were on the other foot.

No, unfortunately due to genuine anti-Semitism that exists in this world, Shmilke’s narrow-mindedness has a certain validity I’m sorry to say. Sad to say, but there are many who hate Jews and jump for joy at train wrecks like Jack Abramoff. In fact, an anti-Semitic website links to this post (again I’m sorry to say).

Is this kind of quiet enmity harbored in the Jewish community?

Oh, about as much as it’s tolerated in the non-Jewish community. And what’s your point? That Jews hate goyim? Some probably do. More likely they fear non-Jews for the power they have to do damage to Jews. And comments like yours don’t encourage them.

Everyone is an individual and should be judged on the content of their character. The day herd mentality can be put to bed the better.

I certainly agree with you. But people run in herds because there are so many predators out there waiting to get them. If we could stop religious hatreds of all stripes & varieties the herd mentality would go the way of the dodo bird.

By: Gentile Joe

Gentile Joe — Wed, 04 Jan 2006 16:49:42 +0000

Richard,

I’m surprised that Shmilke Hayoreh’s comments are tolerated in this forum. So, the gentiles are out to schect Abramoff? That’s a kind of sweeping racial generalization that would get a gentile labeled an Anti-Semite if the shoe were on the other foot.

You went to great lengths to correct him, but you were way too soft on him and he should have been labelled a racist by you and others. And in fact, you did not take issue with the generalization.

Is this kind of quiet enmity harbored in the Jewish community?

Everyone is an individual and should be judged on the content of their character. The day herd mentality can be put to bed the better.

By: Bruce Ehrlich

Bruce Ehrlich — Thu, 22 Dec 2005 15:42:43 +0000

I also graduated from Brandeis, class of 1981. It was an interesting time politically in the US as well as at Brandeis. Reagan had just been elected. Coincidentally (or not) that same year Brandeis hired a visiting professor of politics, who I studied with, who had come directly from the American Enterprise Institute — which might today seem like a moderate Republican think tank but back then was a vanguard of the right. My most vivid memory involving Jack Abramoff and the newly-formed Brandeis Young Republicans occurred during a rally we holding to oppose US interention in El Salvador. Suddenly we were surround on all sides by his band of Young Repubs, who were waving American flags and singing God Bless America in an attempt to drown out our speakers. I kid you not. Right-wing flag wavers had finally arrived at Brandeis. It was certainly the beginning of a new era in politics.

By: Richard Silverstein

Richard Silverstein — Sat, 10 Dec 2005 05:52:47 +0000

It’s always interesting to learn about the origins of someone who turns out so badly. What kernel of that evil was in them back then & which turns were made subsequently that brought him to his current predicament?

I know Brandeis quite well. My brother is Brandeis ‘76 & I’ve known many Brandeis alumni & spent a good deal of time on campus. I find it terribly hard to believe anyone who attended the school could turn out so ‘bad to the bone.’ It’s really a shocker because the school is generally thought of as producing a fairly thoughtful, altruistic student & graduate.

Your observations are quite illuminating & thanks for sharing them.

By: Jay Rovins

Jay Rovins — Sat, 10 Dec 2005 04:09:54 +0000

Jack Abramoff was my room-mate for 2 years at Brandeis University. We were both English majors, class of ‘81, we were both originally from Southern New Jersey. Jack was not raised an orthodox Jew. Jack, in my estimation, was one who adhered to his own particular forms of discipline. He was also, in high school, a weightlifter. Orthodoxy and weightlifting, among many more of Jack’s habits of the time, required this strange form of self-imposed discipline. Our tiny campus apartment, really three rooms, was strictly kosher. Jack disliked drugs, and never would drink much beyond wine for Shabbat. His head was always covered.
Jack and I would often discuss politics, arts, history, the poetry of Wallace Stevens, and more. Being friends at the time, we agreed to disagree. He was driven even then to go beyond the limits that most of us acknowledged. He pushed too far, then, back when no one got hurt.
I attended my first orthodox Yom Kippur services with Jack at the Jewish chapel on the Brandeis campus. It was the first time I had ever witnessed prayers accompanied by the repetitive beating of one’s breast, as if the sins of the previous year required such self-punishment. I saw Jack beat his own breast. I hope that he meant it then. And I hope, somehow, he might find that meaning again.

By: Richard Silverstein

Richard Silverstein — Sat, 13 Aug 2005 08:55:41 +0000

Dodd: Yours is an illuminating comment especially considering that you, & especially your brother (my condolences on his loss), knew him.

I’ve always felt & written here that there must be some kind of deep insecurity & inferiority complex at work to make him so needy for love & attention & so grasping for affirmation & wealth at all costs. It’s almost like he’s a teenager in a man’s body with all the insecurities & immaturity that teenagers have. He’s a guy who never grew up. Seems a perfect fit for a Hollywood producer. Too bad he decided to come to DC.

He seems to be thinking of moving back to the film business. If you still live in LA I’m afraid he may be back your way if he doesn’t go to prison first.

By: Dodd Harris

Dodd Harris — Sat, 13 Aug 2005 07:43:37 +0000

I’ve been reading everything I could find on Jack Abramoff for a personal and sad reason: He was a Senior when my brother was a Junior and I was a Freshman in High School. My brother (deceased) worshipped him as the BMOC of Beverly Hills High. Jack suffers from elite deviancy (the idea that some powerful and wealthy people develop that the “rules” don’t apply to them) his entire career is a graveyard of shady dealings and misanthropy. His story is about low self esteem, chicanery, and greed. One thing about us Jews, when one brings shame upon themselves, we feel it as a group. Jack, unfortunately took nothing from his Judaism that allowed him to truly embrace a code of decency and righteousness.

By: Richard Silverstein

Richard Silverstein — Sat, 13 Aug 2005 01:51:11 +0000

Shmilke, Shmilke (what a name btw–I assume made up)…your comment is ridiculous. Of course, it’s not lashon hara–the proof is in Abramoff’s own e mails that are there for you to read & which were read out to America during Congressional hearings. Abramoff is shooting himself in the foot (or should I say “digging his own grave”) through his own e mail correspondence. Read his interview in the NY Times if you think the world’s being too tough on him. And by the way, you might want to hestitate before you become a member of his fan club. He was never a participant in the organized Jewish community, even in the Orthodox community. He was a loner who pretty much went his own way. And he never created any lasting Jewish organizations to make the community a better place. Everything he created he’s dismantled including the Jewish day school.

The things I say about Abramoff are based on what he himself has said or acknowleged having done. Now it’s up to the government to prosecute him. The first step toward that end happened yesterday when he was arrested on a charge unrelated to the ones I discuss here. But I assure you that this first charge is but the tip of his legal troubles.

Shmilke, Jews can be bad people just like non-Jews. I think it’s a good thing to show the world that we Jews know the difference between a bad Jew & a good one. Otherwise, the only thing left for us would be to circle the wagon whenever any Jew is accused or convicted of a crime no matter what the severity or horror of it. That’s not something I’m prepared to do.

Some Jews have the same approach when it comes to Israel: don’t criticize because Israel already has so many enemies. That’s not a philosophy I subscribe to.

By: Shmilke Hayoreh

Shmilke Hayoreh — Fri, 12 Aug 2005 22:37:05 +0000

This is ALL Loshen Horah.

NONE of you SAW or HEARD anything that is being said against him.

AND you are helping the gentiles schect him by feeding the witch hunt with these unfounded comments.

If you doubt me READ THE CHOFETZ CHAIM.