Holy fuck shit. When I went to retrieve the morning paper from the driveway today a crazy headline flashed before my eyes.
http://www.triblocal.com/Highland_Park_-_Highwood/List_View/view.html?type=stories&action=detail&sub_id=172444
"Highland Park mom helps Fairytale Wishes come true for kids."
So, I opened it up and started reading. This loony mother is marketing a "monster repellent" for kids who have irrational fears of monsters.
Yeah, yeah. I know. It's a stage and eventually the kids out grow it. But fearing non-existent monsters is an irrational fear, nonetheless.
Referring to her son who was afraid that monsters were hiding in his room she says, "it just makes sense that monsters are terrified of bubblegum, so I put that story behind it and he bought it, hook, line and sinker."
Holy shit. Bubblegum??? This woman is bragging (and promoting) the fact that she was able to lie to her son and he believed her tales. She is in her 30's and her son was all of 4 when she began creating these fictitious stories to ease his fears. Duh. Of course a full grown human could manipulate a little child. Should we be lying to our children from the beginning?
The article mentions that some of the varieties of the monster sprays include a Super Hero Spray flavored with Peppermint for courage and a Happy Camper Spray which has a grape smell.
"Each bottle comes with a mini-fairytale told by the Magic Fairyale Wishes Frog, Freddy, who explains why each particular scent will help the child overcome his or her fear."
This woman is telling her son that these magical potions are a cure for his normal childhood anxieties. Instead of just explaining to her son that there are no such monsters and giving him a night light, she chose to fabricate more creative stories. At 4, her son does not need to be confused about general cause and effect.
She is teaching him that having a special potion and magically spraying it around him, will protect him. This cannot be a helpful idea to be teaching our children.
They may grow up and actually believe that there are magical words or acts that one can say or do to alleviate fears. Shit, that's what praying and religious ritual is all about.
And these fucking monster repellent stories come from WHO? Of course, Freddy the Magic Fairytale Wishes Frog. His job is to explain what each bottle of crap actually does and he makes up back stories for each ailment and it's cure.
Of course little Humans (children) believe this garbage. Their parents are believers of their own fairytale stories. The Torah, New Testament, Koran, Bhagavad Gita, Veda all claim to hold answers and cures to humanities ailments. Who cares that they are lies, right?
Just like the idea of Santa Claus; these so-called innocuous stories primes these children for magical thinking from the get-go. I think that this does a disservice to our children because it teaches them that there are magical fairytale things to start with.
My biggest gripe is that these full grown adults KNOW that they are deliberately lying to their children. And making money from it. Humph.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Monday, March 22, 2010
The art of Rabbinical spin
Rabbinical Spin - I’m sure you’re familiar with the act of “spinning” when it is related to the way some news channels report the news. (It is also a well known public relations technique) Some news channels have been known to go WAY beyond reporting the news. (FOX) They attempt to fill in the gaps with assumptions, speculations and usually adding a particular slant to the overall picture of the news story.
All those talking heads on CNN, MSNBC and FOX are all spinning a particular news story. (What does this really mean? How does this effect society? What was he thinking or feeling? What are the overall consequences?)
This is what I believe Rabbis do; and they have been doing this for hundreds of years. You have a simple scroll; the Torah; pretty basic stuff. It said what it was supposed to say, to the people who were supposed to get the message. And that’s all there is.
The Rabbis answers to all “problematic” questions is spin because the Torah does not give us this information. One must make inferences, twist and wring the text and basically make up stuff that isn’t there in order to give the Torah the illusion of uniformity. – Not to mention relevance for the modern man.
When you read the Noah story, it is glaringly obvious that there are two different names for God, the verses overlap, are repetitive and the details contradict one another. i.e.: sending out a raven and a dove.
I am sure that they have some elaborate justifications that explain this and each and every “problematic” passage in the Torah. This is an example of Rabbinical Spin. How so?
Well, does the Torah tell us WHY the names Yahweh and God are used at different times in the Noah story? Wouldn’t this be important? The Torah is, after all, all about God and his covenant with his people. Wouldn’t it behoove us to know the NAME of this deity?
Does the Torah even acknowledge the two different set of instructions regarding the pairing of animals in the Noah story? Two or Seven? Shouldn’t Noah have been confused?
No, the Torah (itself) does not explain these glaring contradictions nor even acknowledge the inconsistencies. But we, modern man, can see them and we DO have the desire to understand how these and many other inconsistencies wound up being composed into this allegedly holy scroll.
All the Shabbat laws? Where did they come from? They are not in the Torah. The list of 39 forbidden actions which are listed in the Mishnah are nothing but spin from Ex. 31:14-16. The Torah only mentions NOT WORKING. That’s it.
Throughout the years, Rabbis have extrapolated from this verse that “work” is defined by these 39 acts associated with creating a sanctuary, since that was the “work” which they were doing at the time of the biblical writing. i.e.: sowing, plowing reaping. . .
The rules and laws of the Jewish tradition have been changed and altered throughout the centuries by Rabbis (in the subsequent Jewish writings) in order to make them relevant to modern society. After all, how could you keep the Sabbath and make it holy (God’s orders) without instructions on how to do so? Especially since the punishment is DEATH. And the Torah just doesn’t provide those instructions. Hence the need to just make it up.
No longer do we concern ourselves with winnowing, shearing wool or weaving etc. . . So, modern Rabbis needed to spin it again to continue to make it relevant for the modern era. This is spin upon spin.
The Torah mentions nothing except DO NOT WORK ON THE SABBATH. It was the Rabbis that chose to define what was considered work. It was the Rabbis who chose to codify it into 39 prohibitions and it was the Rabbis who deemed modern inventions such as driving a car as work.
When the Mishnah instructions about how to observe the Sabbath became irrelevant due to the modern industrial era Rabbis must now search to find hidden meaning and wisdom in the text that just isn’t there.
The same spin applies to the kashrut laws. There is nothing in the Torah that instructs the people about the elaborate rituals that orthodox Jews adhere to nowadays. All it says in the Torah is that you can’t boil a kid in its mother’s milk. From that passage, the Rabbis have used SPIN to create an entire tome of kashrut laws applicable to modern times. It is spin because it is extrapolating additional meaning from a simple sentence which, on its face, is quite clear.
All those talking heads on CNN, MSNBC and FOX are all spinning a particular news story. (What does this really mean? How does this effect society? What was he thinking or feeling? What are the overall consequences?)
This is what I believe Rabbis do; and they have been doing this for hundreds of years. You have a simple scroll; the Torah; pretty basic stuff. It said what it was supposed to say, to the people who were supposed to get the message. And that’s all there is.
The Rabbis answers to all “problematic” questions is spin because the Torah does not give us this information. One must make inferences, twist and wring the text and basically make up stuff that isn’t there in order to give the Torah the illusion of uniformity. – Not to mention relevance for the modern man.
When you read the Noah story, it is glaringly obvious that there are two different names for God, the verses overlap, are repetitive and the details contradict one another. i.e.: sending out a raven and a dove.
I am sure that they have some elaborate justifications that explain this and each and every “problematic” passage in the Torah. This is an example of Rabbinical Spin. How so?
Well, does the Torah tell us WHY the names Yahweh and God are used at different times in the Noah story? Wouldn’t this be important? The Torah is, after all, all about God and his covenant with his people. Wouldn’t it behoove us to know the NAME of this deity?
Does the Torah even acknowledge the two different set of instructions regarding the pairing of animals in the Noah story? Two or Seven? Shouldn’t Noah have been confused?
No, the Torah (itself) does not explain these glaring contradictions nor even acknowledge the inconsistencies. But we, modern man, can see them and we DO have the desire to understand how these and many other inconsistencies wound up being composed into this allegedly holy scroll.
All the Shabbat laws? Where did they come from? They are not in the Torah. The list of 39 forbidden actions which are listed in the Mishnah are nothing but spin from Ex. 31:14-16. The Torah only mentions NOT WORKING. That’s it.
Throughout the years, Rabbis have extrapolated from this verse that “work” is defined by these 39 acts associated with creating a sanctuary, since that was the “work” which they were doing at the time of the biblical writing. i.e.: sowing, plowing reaping. . .
The rules and laws of the Jewish tradition have been changed and altered throughout the centuries by Rabbis (in the subsequent Jewish writings) in order to make them relevant to modern society. After all, how could you keep the Sabbath and make it holy (God’s orders) without instructions on how to do so? Especially since the punishment is DEATH. And the Torah just doesn’t provide those instructions. Hence the need to just make it up.
No longer do we concern ourselves with winnowing, shearing wool or weaving etc. . . So, modern Rabbis needed to spin it again to continue to make it relevant for the modern era. This is spin upon spin.
The Torah mentions nothing except DO NOT WORK ON THE SABBATH. It was the Rabbis that chose to define what was considered work. It was the Rabbis who chose to codify it into 39 prohibitions and it was the Rabbis who deemed modern inventions such as driving a car as work.
When the Mishnah instructions about how to observe the Sabbath became irrelevant due to the modern industrial era Rabbis must now search to find hidden meaning and wisdom in the text that just isn’t there.
The same spin applies to the kashrut laws. There is nothing in the Torah that instructs the people about the elaborate rituals that orthodox Jews adhere to nowadays. All it says in the Torah is that you can’t boil a kid in its mother’s milk. From that passage, the Rabbis have used SPIN to create an entire tome of kashrut laws applicable to modern times. It is spin because it is extrapolating additional meaning from a simple sentence which, on its face, is quite clear.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Why Evangelize???
I know that I usually write about Jewish Orthodoxy.
Today, I'd like to explore the concept of Christian Evangelizing.
I do not understand their logic of choosing to witness their beliefs to others.
I propose a question to believers who choose to evangelize:
What happens to the souls of the people across the world who have never heard of your version of the Jesus Christ redemption?
They would typically respond by saying that the people who never heard of Jesus Christ will be judged according to their exposure and knowledge.
[That’s why we need to evangelize, they might say.
Their god being all powerful shouldn’t need THEM or any middle men to get his divine message across. That aside; answer the question]
Will these people who never heard of Jesus end up in the Christian version of Hell?
People who answered “yes” worship an evil deity. A JUST, BENEVOLENT god would never punish a person for not playing by the rules when they did not know the rules to begin with.
But the ones who conclude that a person ignorant of Christianity and Jesus Christ could still end up in the same heaven that the believer believes he will be in tells me that the believer should have left that person alone and never attempted to evangelize and spread the word of Jesus Christ to anyone.
Certainly, the believer thinks that Heaven is a better option than Hell. (It’s a good thing these places are fictitious) They wouldn’t be “spreading the Gospel” otherwise.
People would be better off (in the afterlife) in the Christian scheme of things, if they NEVER hear the lies and promises of Jesus Christ. Therefore, they would never have the “knowledge” to reject it.
Today, I'd like to explore the concept of Christian Evangelizing.
I do not understand their logic of choosing to witness their beliefs to others.
I propose a question to believers who choose to evangelize:
What happens to the souls of the people across the world who have never heard of your version of the Jesus Christ redemption?
They would typically respond by saying that the people who never heard of Jesus Christ will be judged according to their exposure and knowledge.
[That’s why we need to evangelize, they might say.
Their god being all powerful shouldn’t need THEM or any middle men to get his divine message across. That aside; answer the question]
Will these people who never heard of Jesus end up in the Christian version of Hell?
People who answered “yes” worship an evil deity. A JUST, BENEVOLENT god would never punish a person for not playing by the rules when they did not know the rules to begin with.
But the ones who conclude that a person ignorant of Christianity and Jesus Christ could still end up in the same heaven that the believer believes he will be in tells me that the believer should have left that person alone and never attempted to evangelize and spread the word of Jesus Christ to anyone.
Certainly, the believer thinks that Heaven is a better option than Hell. (It’s a good thing these places are fictitious) They wouldn’t be “spreading the Gospel” otherwise.
People would be better off (in the afterlife) in the Christian scheme of things, if they NEVER hear the lies and promises of Jesus Christ. Therefore, they would never have the “knowledge” to reject it.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Rabbi Avi Weiss continues to make headlines
Back when I first started this blog, I wrote several items about Rabbi Avi Weiss -all negative.
They all reflected personal experiences which I had with him and how his crazy Orthodox religious beliefs affected me when he interfered with our medical consultations and interjected upon personal family discussions regarding my mother's care while she was in the hospital on her deathbed.
http://elishasindignancies.blogspot.com/2009/06/rabbi-weiss-and-his-intrusion.html
I also wrote about how he used religious pseudo psychology to help quell mine and my sister's fears that my father was moving too quickly with getting re-married less than a year after our mother's death and moving to Israel. My sisters and I sought counseling with Rabbi Avi Weiss and I wrote about his crazy logic in this post:
http://elishasindignancies.blogspot.com/2009/07/r-avi-weiss-and-his-pseudo-psychology.html
My father has subsequently responded with anger. I suppose he feels that Rabbi Avi Weiss deserves some kind of automatic criticism shield whereby people shouldn't speak against or disrespect a Rabbi. I wrote about that presumption here:
http://elishasindignancies.blogspot.com/2009_08_02_archive.html
I no longer speak to my sisters. My father and I currently have a strained relationship. I know that their religion plays a HUGE factor in their isolating me. So, I have chosen to speak out about all the crap that I went through due to my family's warped beliefs.
Now, it seems that I am not the only one speaking up against Rabbi Avi Weiss:
http://www.thejewishweek.com/viewArticle/c41_a18006/News/Short_Takes.html
THE ENTIRE FUCKING RABBINICAL COUNCIL OF AMERICA is putting R. Avi Weiss' brand of modern orthodoxy into question. Why? Because Rabbi Weiss made a young woman a Rabbi.
Orthodox Judaism is sexist, in general so they can't have any equality. Women must sit separated from their husbands and must wear clothes that cover up their knees and elbows. (Don't you know that knees and elbows are really sexy?)
From the article in Jewish Week: "The RCA (Rabbinical Council of America) has been closing in on Rabbi Weiss for several years, declaring that no rabbi ordained by Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, a men’s rabbinical school founded by Rabbi Weiss, can be even be considered for RCA membership."
Wow. That would put my brother-in-law's (Rabbi Jeffrey Fox) Rabbinical qualifications into question since he is an alumni of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah. http://www.plaxo.com/directory/profile/25770098411/9f1057c9/Rabbi/Fox
So, I say to my father, who condemned me for criticizing Rabbi Weiss: Will you have the balls to stand up and criticize the entire fucking Rabbinical Council of America and defend your Rabbi Weiss? Probably not.
But me??? I'm an easy target, right?
Will I get an apology from my father? Probably not.
They all reflected personal experiences which I had with him and how his crazy Orthodox religious beliefs affected me when he interfered with our medical consultations and interjected upon personal family discussions regarding my mother's care while she was in the hospital on her deathbed.
http://elishasindignancies.blogspot.com/2009/06/rabbi-weiss-and-his-intrusion.html
I also wrote about how he used religious pseudo psychology to help quell mine and my sister's fears that my father was moving too quickly with getting re-married less than a year after our mother's death and moving to Israel. My sisters and I sought counseling with Rabbi Avi Weiss and I wrote about his crazy logic in this post:
http://elishasindignancies.blogspot.com/2009/07/r-avi-weiss-and-his-pseudo-psychology.html
My father has subsequently responded with anger. I suppose he feels that Rabbi Avi Weiss deserves some kind of automatic criticism shield whereby people shouldn't speak against or disrespect a Rabbi. I wrote about that presumption here:
http://elishasindignancies.blogspot.com/2009_08_02_archive.html
I no longer speak to my sisters. My father and I currently have a strained relationship. I know that their religion plays a HUGE factor in their isolating me. So, I have chosen to speak out about all the crap that I went through due to my family's warped beliefs.
Now, it seems that I am not the only one speaking up against Rabbi Avi Weiss:
http://www.thejewishweek.com/viewArticle/c41_a18006/News/Short_Takes.html
THE ENTIRE FUCKING RABBINICAL COUNCIL OF AMERICA is putting R. Avi Weiss' brand of modern orthodoxy into question. Why? Because Rabbi Weiss made a young woman a Rabbi.
Orthodox Judaism is sexist, in general so they can't have any equality. Women must sit separated from their husbands and must wear clothes that cover up their knees and elbows. (Don't you know that knees and elbows are really sexy?)
From the article in Jewish Week: "The RCA (Rabbinical Council of America) has been closing in on Rabbi Weiss for several years, declaring that no rabbi ordained by Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, a men’s rabbinical school founded by Rabbi Weiss, can be even be considered for RCA membership."
Wow. That would put my brother-in-law's (Rabbi Jeffrey Fox) Rabbinical qualifications into question since he is an alumni of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah. http://www.plaxo.com/directory/profile/25770098411/9f1057c9/Rabbi/Fox
So, I say to my father, who condemned me for criticizing Rabbi Weiss: Will you have the balls to stand up and criticize the entire fucking Rabbinical Council of America and defend your Rabbi Weiss? Probably not.
But me??? I'm an easy target, right?
Will I get an apology from my father? Probably not.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Tefillin prayer scare on US Airways
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2010/01/21/2010-01-21_jewish_teens_tefillin_sets_off_bomb_scare_that_diverts_us_airways_flight_from_la.html
Jewish teen's tefillin sets off bomb scare that diverts US Airways flight from LaGuardia.
This is the kind of shit that pisses me off.
How many people were inconvenienced because one fucking Jew wanted to pray on a god damned plane? On a plane - where there are two inches between you and your seatmate.
He should have gone into the bathroom and closed the door and prayed privately -- and not subjected the rest of the passengers with his primitive horseshit.
What will become of airport security now? Is every $9/hr. TSA security person expected to learn the rituals and props from every single religion in order to avoid mistakenly assuming that a person is a terrorist when they are only doing some form of generational superstition?
I wish these orthodox Jews would step back from themselves and see what they look like to the rest of the world.
Their tefillin consists of a leather binding which you wrap around your arm several times until the blood stops flowing. There is a small box which is attached to the binding which has to lay on the bicep a certain way. You MUST wrap the binding around your arm 7 times.
You are required to say an incantation at this point and not speak to anyone until the job of binding is complete.
They have another leather binding in their prop kit with contains a box that wraps around your forehead and the little box MUST stick out of the top of your head prominently like a horn.
Now they go back to the binding on the arm. -- All in it's proper order, you know. Everything must be done in the strictest of fashion because we all know that god loves the stupid details.
The process continues by now starting to cut off the blood flow at the hand too. http://www.davening.net/tefillin.html%20
First, bring the strap (the one wrapped around the arm 7 times) around and down to the middle finger and around the upper half of the middle finger. Then wrap the strap twice around the lower part of the middle finger.
Inside these little boxes contain some magic words from their Torah. Then they don the tallis --which is a shroud with fringes. It looks ratty and tattered and basically umm -- primitive.
Then the rocking and chanting starts.
Here we have a bunch of supposed adults playing dress-up, talking and praying to their imaginary friend, saying some magical words, from a magical scroll, using their magical (props) phylacteries, taking care to wrap it around their arms a magical 7 times and we are supposed to tolerate this nonsense.
No. I won't. If I was on that plane and a Jew whipped out his magic tefillin prop kit, I would grab it from him and tell him that we do not behave in that manner in public. Be shameful and do your primitive rituals privately in the bathroom where everybody takes a shit.
Jewish teen's tefillin sets off bomb scare that diverts US Airways flight from LaGuardia.
This is the kind of shit that pisses me off.
How many people were inconvenienced because one fucking Jew wanted to pray on a god damned plane? On a plane - where there are two inches between you and your seatmate.
He should have gone into the bathroom and closed the door and prayed privately -- and not subjected the rest of the passengers with his primitive horseshit.
What will become of airport security now? Is every $9/hr. TSA security person expected to learn the rituals and props from every single religion in order to avoid mistakenly assuming that a person is a terrorist when they are only doing some form of generational superstition?
I wish these orthodox Jews would step back from themselves and see what they look like to the rest of the world.
Their tefillin consists of a leather binding which you wrap around your arm several times until the blood stops flowing. There is a small box which is attached to the binding which has to lay on the bicep a certain way. You MUST wrap the binding around your arm 7 times.
You are required to say an incantation at this point and not speak to anyone until the job of binding is complete.
They have another leather binding in their prop kit with contains a box that wraps around your forehead and the little box MUST stick out of the top of your head prominently like a horn.
Now they go back to the binding on the arm. -- All in it's proper order, you know. Everything must be done in the strictest of fashion because we all know that god loves the stupid details.
The process continues by now starting to cut off the blood flow at the hand too. http://www.davening.net/tefillin.html%20
First, bring the strap (the one wrapped around the arm 7 times) around and down to the middle finger and around the upper half of the middle finger. Then wrap the strap twice around the lower part of the middle finger.
Inside these little boxes contain some magic words from their Torah. Then they don the tallis --which is a shroud with fringes. It looks ratty and tattered and basically umm -- primitive.
Then the rocking and chanting starts.
Here we have a bunch of supposed adults playing dress-up, talking and praying to their imaginary friend, saying some magical words, from a magical scroll, using their magical (props) phylacteries, taking care to wrap it around their arms a magical 7 times and we are supposed to tolerate this nonsense.
No. I won't. If I was on that plane and a Jew whipped out his magic tefillin prop kit, I would grab it from him and tell him that we do not behave in that manner in public. Be shameful and do your primitive rituals privately in the bathroom where everybody takes a shit.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Despite Exorcism, Dybbuk chooses to stay inside host's body
I say this with ALL the seriousness that I can muster up. Here is a summary of recent events in the Dybbuk (ghost) story:
There was an attempted exorcism and apparently the Dybbuk wanted to come out of the host's body via his eye but the Rabbi told the ghost to ONLY come out of the man's left toe. The ghost refused.
The Dybbuk decided to stay in the mans body instead.
Holy Shit! What nut bags.
http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/article.php?p=44430
Rabbi Batzri: ‘Get Out Dibuk!’
There was a mechitza set up between the many who came to observe and the mekubalim headed by HaRav David Batzri Shlita, who was attempting to remove the dibuk from the Brazilian avreich in Jerusalem’s Yeshivat Shalom on Wednesday night.
“Get out Dibuk!” shouted the rabbonim as shofars were sounded in the background. “Tell us your name”.
Prior to the event, the avreich, who arrived from Brazil earlier in the week, visited a number of Gedolei Yisrael Shlita, including Jerusalem Tzaddik Rav Zundel Kroizer Shlita.
The mekubalim gathered in the ezras nashim of the shul, separated from the crowd by the mechitza that was closed to prevent seeing what was taking place, permitting observers to listen in, no more.
At one point, the dibuk appeared willing to leave the host, via an eye, but Rav Batzri shouted he does not have permission to harm the young man, ordering him to leave via the small toe of his left foot only, with causing any harm to the young man.
The mekubalim did everything they could to compel the dibuk to leave, but apparently, even the special tikunim recited were not enough to extract the foreign entity from the young avreich.
Witnesses report as the tzibur recited Shema and 13 Midos along with the mekubalim, two different distinct voices were heard from the young avreich.
Despite all the efforts, it appears Rav Batzri was unsuccessful in his efforts to remove the dibuk from the avreich.
There was an attempted exorcism and apparently the Dybbuk wanted to come out of the host's body via his eye but the Rabbi told the ghost to ONLY come out of the man's left toe. The ghost refused.
The Dybbuk decided to stay in the mans body instead.
Holy Shit! What nut bags.
http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/article.php?p=44430
Rabbi Batzri: ‘Get Out Dibuk!’
There was a mechitza set up between the many who came to observe and the mekubalim headed by HaRav David Batzri Shlita, who was attempting to remove the dibuk from the Brazilian avreich in Jerusalem’s Yeshivat Shalom on Wednesday night.
“Get out Dibuk!” shouted the rabbonim as shofars were sounded in the background. “Tell us your name”.
Prior to the event, the avreich, who arrived from Brazil earlier in the week, visited a number of Gedolei Yisrael Shlita, including Jerusalem Tzaddik Rav Zundel Kroizer Shlita.
The mekubalim gathered in the ezras nashim of the shul, separated from the crowd by the mechitza that was closed to prevent seeing what was taking place, permitting observers to listen in, no more.
At one point, the dibuk appeared willing to leave the host, via an eye, but Rav Batzri shouted he does not have permission to harm the young man, ordering him to leave via the small toe of his left foot only, with causing any harm to the young man.
The mekubalim did everything they could to compel the dibuk to leave, but apparently, even the special tikunim recited were not enough to extract the foreign entity from the young avreich.
Witnesses report as the tzibur recited Shema and 13 Midos along with the mekubalim, two different distinct voices were heard from the young avreich.
Despite all the efforts, it appears Rav Batzri was unsuccessful in his efforts to remove the dibuk from the avreich.
Tales from the Institution - Part 2
As I mentioned before, when I was 15 my parents created an intricate manipulation in order to put me away in a mental institution. I want to continue describing some more mind-blowing events which further traumatized me well into adulthood.
Institutions are run like prisons. There was room check, morning meal, smoking schedules and the infamous prison card game, Spades.
During my second stint at South Oaks mental institution, when I was 17, I earned a weekend pass (one of the rare ones where my parents actually picked me up the Friday before the Sabbath started). That Sunday, my parents allowed me to go "cruising" to the mall in their brown Diesel station wagon. I did have a driver's license.
I had picked up a couple of friends, and they were acting quite loud in the car. I was not concentrating, and I backed into a fire hydrant. I lied to my parents and told them that I parked the car in the mall parking lot and when I came back to the car, there was damage to the rear end. It must have been a hit and run, I told them.
They believed me and filed an insurance claim with the false information that I gave them. A few days later, I felt guilty and decided to "confess" during one of our group therapy sessions in the institution.
Well, that was a mistake. I had all my privileges pulled and I was not allowed any visitors or leave the grounds for any reason. You would think that I was being punished for lying to my parents and having them file a false report with the insurance company, right?
NOPE. I was punished because I failed to follow the Institution's rules: nobody was allowed to drive a car while on weekend pass, regardless of whether or not you had a valid driver's license or had your parents' permission.
It seemed that the rules of the institution extended outside of the institution. How does that happen?
In addition, I was being punished for breaking a rule that I didn't know even existed -- and neither did my parents since, they gave me permission to drive their car.
Of course, I was encouraged to tell my parents that I lied, and I did.
But what I didn't tell South Oaks OR my parents was what I discovered that day at the Smith Haven mall in Lake Grove.
Backstory: There was a very popular staff member (I'll call him Alex) who worked at South Oaks. He was young, handsome and resembled Michael J. Fox from the 80's TV show Family Ties. He had an exceptional rapport with some of the more thugly males in our unit. I always thought it was odd. But I wrote it off as him being male and close to our age.
Alex was hip, used teenage jargon and hosted the many Narcotics Anonymous and Alcohol Anonymous meetings that we were required to attend (even if we didn't have a problem in any of those areas). He related to the kids who seemed to have problems with drugs or the law and offered a consoling ear and adequate advice.
That day, as my friends and I were leaving the mall, we saw Alex. He pulled up to the curb of the entrance to the mall where my friends and I were leaving through the double doors. Alex was in a red sports car and talking on a car phone. Back in the 80's, the only people who had the luxury of having a car phone were important business executives, lawyers or drug dealers.
Alex seemed nervous as we exchanged our pleasantries. His eyes were darting around and he seemed eager to get into his sporty car and leave.
Suddenly, a group of young men approached Alex's car and as they got closer I saw that one of the boys was Tony from South Oaks. (Apparantly he was also on a weekend pass.) Hmmmm. What was a gang member from Brooklyn doing in the suburbs of Long Island?
Tony greeted Alex with a handshake which was popular amongst teens. They didn't seem surprised to see each other. In fact, it seemed that their meeting was prearranged.
Tony reached in his pocket and handed Alex a wad of money. Alex took the money and shook his head, implying that this is not the appropriate time to do whatever they had arranged and said, "Catch ya later."
Well, this wasn't acceptable for Tony, and he blurted out, "I just want my shit, Alex. Give me my shit."
Now I understood what was going on. Alex, who was clean cut, hip, worked as a staff member at South Oaks Psychiatric hospital and mentored young adults with drug and addiction problems was a MAJOR DRUG DEALER in Long Island, NY.
This was information which I didn't want nor need to know, considering that I had to go back to the institution and face Alex. But all was well.
I learned fast at that institution how to stay quiet. I never told anyone, and Alex and I stayed out of each other's way. He was probably walking on eggshells thinking that I would rat
Institutions are run like prisons. There was room check, morning meal, smoking schedules and the infamous prison card game, Spades.
During my second stint at South Oaks mental institution, when I was 17, I earned a weekend pass (one of the rare ones where my parents actually picked me up the Friday before the Sabbath started). That Sunday, my parents allowed me to go "cruising" to the mall in their brown Diesel station wagon. I did have a driver's license.
I had picked up a couple of friends, and they were acting quite loud in the car. I was not concentrating, and I backed into a fire hydrant. I lied to my parents and told them that I parked the car in the mall parking lot and when I came back to the car, there was damage to the rear end. It must have been a hit and run, I told them.
They believed me and filed an insurance claim with the false information that I gave them. A few days later, I felt guilty and decided to "confess" during one of our group therapy sessions in the institution.
Well, that was a mistake. I had all my privileges pulled and I was not allowed any visitors or leave the grounds for any reason. You would think that I was being punished for lying to my parents and having them file a false report with the insurance company, right?
NOPE. I was punished because I failed to follow the Institution's rules: nobody was allowed to drive a car while on weekend pass, regardless of whether or not you had a valid driver's license or had your parents' permission.
It seemed that the rules of the institution extended outside of the institution. How does that happen?
In addition, I was being punished for breaking a rule that I didn't know even existed -- and neither did my parents since, they gave me permission to drive their car.
Of course, I was encouraged to tell my parents that I lied, and I did.
But what I didn't tell South Oaks OR my parents was what I discovered that day at the Smith Haven mall in Lake Grove.
Backstory: There was a very popular staff member (I'll call him Alex) who worked at South Oaks. He was young, handsome and resembled Michael J. Fox from the 80's TV show Family Ties. He had an exceptional rapport with some of the more thugly males in our unit. I always thought it was odd. But I wrote it off as him being male and close to our age.
Alex was hip, used teenage jargon and hosted the many Narcotics Anonymous and Alcohol Anonymous meetings that we were required to attend (even if we didn't have a problem in any of those areas). He related to the kids who seemed to have problems with drugs or the law and offered a consoling ear and adequate advice.
That day, as my friends and I were leaving the mall, we saw Alex. He pulled up to the curb of the entrance to the mall where my friends and I were leaving through the double doors. Alex was in a red sports car and talking on a car phone. Back in the 80's, the only people who had the luxury of having a car phone were important business executives, lawyers or drug dealers.
Alex seemed nervous as we exchanged our pleasantries. His eyes were darting around and he seemed eager to get into his sporty car and leave.
Suddenly, a group of young men approached Alex's car and as they got closer I saw that one of the boys was Tony from South Oaks. (Apparantly he was also on a weekend pass.) Hmmmm. What was a gang member from Brooklyn doing in the suburbs of Long Island?
Tony greeted Alex with a handshake which was popular amongst teens. They didn't seem surprised to see each other. In fact, it seemed that their meeting was prearranged.
Tony reached in his pocket and handed Alex a wad of money. Alex took the money and shook his head, implying that this is not the appropriate time to do whatever they had arranged and said, "Catch ya later."
Well, this wasn't acceptable for Tony, and he blurted out, "I just want my shit, Alex. Give me my shit."
Now I understood what was going on. Alex, who was clean cut, hip, worked as a staff member at South Oaks Psychiatric hospital and mentored young adults with drug and addiction problems was a MAJOR DRUG DEALER in Long Island, NY.
This was information which I didn't want nor need to know, considering that I had to go back to the institution and face Alex. But all was well.
I learned fast at that institution how to stay quiet. I never told anyone, and Alex and I stayed out of each other's way. He was probably walking on eggshells thinking that I would rat
him out and he'd be fired. But I said nothing.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
