BARBARA'S TCHATZKAHS

by Daniel Treiman The L.A. Jewish Journal’s Amy Klein had a great in-depth article in 2008 on the alleged money-laundering and tax-fraud scheme that has resulted in the indictment of leaders of the Spinka Hasidic sect. Reporting from both coasts, and visiting the Spinka sect’s home base in the Borough Park section of Brooklyn, Klein tackles a number of interesting issues that the case raises, including the debate among Orthodox Jews over criminality in their community. The most interesting aspect of the article, however, is Klein’s treatment of the question of how the community regards individuals who report their fellow Jews to law-enforcement. In the Spinka case, an informant dubbed “RK” — whom Klein says is actually businessman Robert A. Kasirer — played a key role in helping prosecutors assemble their case. And some are quite angry with him for doing so. Klein reports: …the most talked-about aspect of the case — both among bloggers and at Shabbat tables on both coasts — has been th...

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Leaders Use Patriotism to Justify Today's 'Holy Wars' By RICHARD E. CROSS Our country is torn apart by controversy when it comes to the subject of war. Americans are at odds over the meaning of "patriotism" and "supporting our troops." In our own local paper there has been an ongoing and heated exchange on the subject. Amid these arguments, however, we can observe a dangerous and distorted concept of "patriotism" that has become a new kind of "religion" for some. The state has become an object of worship, and the age-old mantra of "holy war" has once again been involved to mislead and deceive the citizens of our homeland. Hermann Goering, Hitler's second in command, said it cynically but acutely: "The people can always be brought to do the bidding of their leaders. That is easy. All you have to is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the fatherland t...

WHITEWASHING RADICAL ISLAM by Timothy R. Furnish As of this writing I am watching C-SPAN2's "Book TV." Lawrence Wright is interviewing Raymond Ibrahim, who works in the Middle East section at the Library of Congress and just published The al-Qaeda Reader, containing translations of Usama bin Ladin's and Ayman al-Zawahiri's writings. Wright is trying, at every turn, to refute Ibrahim's analysis. For example, Ibrahim was just discussing the fact that UBL and his ilk justify their violence from the Qur'an and the Hadiths. Wright interjected "but of course every religion has violent tendencies: in Christianity you're supposed to stone homosexuals." Amazing. I've read the New Testament numerous times, and I've yet to find that passage. Wright is a noted and best-selling author and alleged "expert" on the war on terror and the Middle East--and a guest host on C-SPAN--yet he is incredibly ignorant (or simply misrepresentative) of...