Monday, January 15, 2007
New York Rabbi Finds Friends in Iran and Enemies at Home
It was a bizarre sight: a cadre of Orthodox Jews, with their distinctive hats, beards and sidelocks, standing alongside President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran last month at a conference in Tehran debating the Holocaust.
Among them was Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss, spokesman and assistant director of a small anti-Zionist group with a foothold in this town in Rockland County, home to one of the nation’s largest communities of Hasidic Jews.
Unlike Mr. Ahmadinejad and most of the others present, including the former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, Rabbi Weiss does not deny or question the Holocaust; his grandparents died at Auschwitz, as did several of his aunts and uncles, he said. What he and the Iranian president have in common, he explained, is their belief that the Holocaust has been exploited to justify the existence of Israel.
“We went to Iran because we had to let the world know, especially the Arab world and the Muslim world, that we are not their enemies,” he said in an interview, a Palestinian flag with the phrase “A Jew Not a Zionist,” written in Hebrew, English and Arabic pinned to the lapel of his coat. Below the Palestinian flag was an Israeli flag with a red line across it.
Rabbi Weiss and four other members of his group, Neturei Karta, received a warm reception in Iran, he said, dining with state officials and posing for photographs with Mr. Ahmadinejad, whom Rabbi Weiss had met at least twice before.
Back home, Rabbi Weiss and the others were met with anger and scorn. Since their return, they have been ostracized by synagogues, denied service at kosher stores and vilified in Jewish discussion boards on the Web. Posters have surfaced in the Satmar Hasidic enclaves of Brooklyn, calling the members of Neturei Karta “rebels” and “outcasts” and asking Orthodox Jews to “totally cut off ties with this gang.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/15/nyregion/15rabbi.html?em&ex=1169010000&en=48d01f135bd74dc8&ei=5087%0A
It was a bizarre sight: a cadre of Orthodox Jews, with their distinctive hats, beards and sidelocks, standing alongside President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran last month at a conference in Tehran debating the Holocaust.
Among them was Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss, spokesman and assistant director of a small anti-Zionist group with a foothold in this town in Rockland County, home to one of the nation’s largest communities of Hasidic Jews.
Unlike Mr. Ahmadinejad and most of the others present, including the former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, Rabbi Weiss does not deny or question the Holocaust; his grandparents died at Auschwitz, as did several of his aunts and uncles, he said. What he and the Iranian president have in common, he explained, is their belief that the Holocaust has been exploited to justify the existence of Israel.
“We went to Iran because we had to let the world know, especially the Arab world and the Muslim world, that we are not their enemies,” he said in an interview, a Palestinian flag with the phrase “A Jew Not a Zionist,” written in Hebrew, English and Arabic pinned to the lapel of his coat. Below the Palestinian flag was an Israeli flag with a red line across it.
Rabbi Weiss and four other members of his group, Neturei Karta, received a warm reception in Iran, he said, dining with state officials and posing for photographs with Mr. Ahmadinejad, whom Rabbi Weiss had met at least twice before.
Back home, Rabbi Weiss and the others were met with anger and scorn. Since their return, they have been ostracized by synagogues, denied service at kosher stores and vilified in Jewish discussion boards on the Web. Posters have surfaced in the Satmar Hasidic enclaves of Brooklyn, calling the members of Neturei Karta “rebels” and “outcasts” and asking Orthodox Jews to “totally cut off ties with this gang.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/15/nyregion/15rabbi.html?em&ex=1169010000&en=48d01f135bd74dc8&ei=5087%0A
Comments:
Hungarian Jewry strikes again!
Most of these insane NK people are Hungarians, it seems they have taken fanaticism and turned it into a fine art.
Discuss it here:
http://www.ungaren.blogspot.com
Most of these insane NK people are Hungarians, it seems they have taken fanaticism and turned it into a fine art.
Discuss it here:
http://www.ungaren.blogspot.com
Comment Credit ---This article posted by 
: January 15, 2007 11:18 AM
: January 15, 2007 11:18 AM
More publicity for N.K. Precisely what they seek. As they say, there is no such thing as bad press (any press is good for the subject.)
Rav Weiss Shlita, you have done a great job. We are all proud of you.
Itcha UmGlick
Harav Hashakran Mendel Ohav Kessef(Zilber)
Itcha UmGlick
Harav Hashakran Mendel Ohav Kessef(Zilber)
Comment Credit ---This article posted by : January 16, 2007 12:05 AM
: January 16, 2007 12:05 AM
I am not surprised that Mr. Weiss attended a meeting help by groups of people hoping death to Jewish children and families. I don't have any personal interactions with MR. Weiss, but I understand from people taht live near him that he rather often gets bombarded with cinderblocks and bricks, and must always park his cars in the garage.
If one agrees with having a homeland in Israel or not, there is no need to claim that the Jewish people have no right for a homeland. If there is no way to see the Holocaust as a call for a homeland, fine, but be thoughtful of other people's opinions. Showing support for Suicide bombings, as Weiss did when there was a rally in D.C. when I was in High School, is just wrong. Anyone who supports murdering innocent people will ultimatly get what they deserve.
Still, is it our job to punish Weiss and his nutball followers? Let them say what they want, the only way to discredit them to the rest of the world is to make them appear as insignificant and psychotic. If we ignore this problem, it will not go away, but people will hold less stock in what these morons have to say. Maybe this is just my naive young approach, but these people are bing stupid, lets ignore them.
If one agrees with having a homeland in Israel or not, there is no need to claim that the Jewish people have no right for a homeland. If there is no way to see the Holocaust as a call for a homeland, fine, but be thoughtful of other people's opinions. Showing support for Suicide bombings, as Weiss did when there was a rally in D.C. when I was in High School, is just wrong. Anyone who supports murdering innocent people will ultimatly get what they deserve.
Still, is it our job to punish Weiss and his nutball followers? Let them say what they want, the only way to discredit them to the rest of the world is to make them appear as insignificant and psychotic. If we ignore this problem, it will not go away, but people will hold less stock in what these morons have to say. Maybe this is just my naive young approach, but these people are bing stupid, lets ignore them.
Comment Credit ---This article posted by : January 16, 2007 10:34 AM
: January 16, 2007 10:34 AM
Mr Weiss is an asshole, I'll be first to admit. I don't think that bashing his windows in and slashing his tires is an appropriate response. I remember when he went to Washington DC when I was in High School for a pro-palestinian rally and people broke his house windows. This isn't new. As has been said, they are seeking any attention they can get. If we continue to grace these people with our attention, the media will also focus on them and allow people to see the filth in our community. If we ignore them they will be seen as the mere psychotics that they are.
Comment Credit ---This article posted by : January 16, 2007 9:09 PM
: January 16, 2007 9:09 PM
Sorry, didn't intend to post twice.
Post a Comment
Comment Credit ---This article posted by : January 17, 2007 9:34 AM
: January 17, 2007 9:34 AM
