Cut The Mayor Some Slack....

From the New York Times. So silly:-).

Tests of courage are found in unexpected places.

On Tuesday night, Mayor Bill de Blasio attended a gala for Agudath Israel of America, a premier event for the black-hat leaders of the ultra-Orthodox Jews of New York. The mayor is a gregarious fellow and ... he chatted and joked on the dais with numerous rabbis, some of whom endorsed his mayoral campaign.  [Would he not have chatted and joked with them had they not endorsed him. Is he trying to get them to endorse him again? He is already firmly in office...]

Let’s assume the best. [Ahhh - limmud zchus!!] Perhaps the mayor was enjoying himself too much to listen as Rabbi Yaakov Perlow, a top rabbi with Agudath Israel, delivered keynote remarks laced with Yiddish and Hebrew words. [Give him a break. Why should a goy like de Blasio care to hear divrei hisorerus from a gadol in Torah like the Novominsker.... I know a lot of Jews who would tune him out as well. It is a matter of what is important to you. The readers of this blog would listen intently.]

Rabbi Perlow offered a shower of condemnation for Reform and Conservative Jews, who he said were among those who “subvert and destroy the eternal values of our people.” These movements, he said, “have disintegrated themselves, become oblivious, fallen into an abyss of intermarriage and assimilation.”

“They will be relegated,” he added, “to the dustbins of Jewish history.”

This was a striking statement because a majority of the Jews in this city identify as non-Orthodox.

[Why is Rabbi Perlow obligated to believe in what the majority of the Jews in the city believe?? He clearly knows more Torah than ALL OF THEM PUT TOGETHER. Did the author of this article ever study Jewish theology, philosophy or history in order to realize that what the good Rov was saying was a no-brainer that every Torah scholar worth his salt knows well. Why do journalists express opinions on matters of which they are ignorant??]

The mayor himself proudly celebrates his own mixed-race marriage. [Rabbi Perlow has nothing against a white goy marrying a black goya. They should be zoche to build a bayis neeman in Manhattan! He also has no problem with a black Jew marrying a white Jew. In his own family, I am told, there is a ger of Japanese descent who married in and he was in favor - despite oppostion from others...]

When Mr. de Blasio stood to speak a minute later, he offered no whisper of demurral. [Why should he? Why should a Gentile politician express opinions on internal Jewish matters of hashkafa?? Did he ever learn Moreh Nevuchim?]

The mayor praised the growth of the ultra-Orthodox “community” and said he had crafted his universal prekindergarten program so that yeshivas would receive taxpayer dollars. [Why is "community" in quotes?? It also seems that there is a insinuation that the "ultras" are taking money they don't deserve. They pay taxes, too...]

“Our pre-k program is going to have a strong yeshivot element, and I am proud of that fact,” he noted. [Halevai that the Israeli government should be so positive about furthering Jewish education...]

There is other bad stuff in the article.

Conclusion - better not to read the Times......:-)