A Jewish Heroine?

One of the most insidious aspects of the Internet is the phenomena of "religious" websites which are filled with non-religious content, such as kfira, immodesty, lashon hara etc. etc. People innocently think that since the writers are religious, the content will reflect religious values, but this is rarely the case. I once saw a video on such a site where the message was an inspiring "Life isn't fair but we must grin and bear it". The message was conveyed forcefully - "life isn't fair - deal with it".

That is ABSOLUTE kfira. א-ל אמונה ואין עוול - G-d is PERFECT with no injustice. Life is COMPLETELY FAIR. It may not SEEM fair at times but we believe with emuna shleima that Hashem has a big plan and that we only see part of the picture.

Here is an article from a "religious" "kiruv" site about Joan Rivers, who just passed away.

June 8, 1933 a little girl, Joan Alexandra Molinsky, was born. Her parents, Beatrice and Meyer, were Russian Jewish immigrants who raised their two daughters originally in Brooklyn before settling in Larchmont, New York. Joan graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Barnard College in 1954 and before entering show business, she worked as a tour guide at Rockefeller Center, as a writer at an advertising agency and as a fashion consultant at Bond Clothing Store. She changed her name to Joan Rivers when she entered the acting world, and in February 1983, she became the first female comedian to ever perform at Carnegie Hall. She became famous for her direct sense of humor and for her insistence in "telling it like it is."

Though Joan was not an observant Jew, she was a member of Temple Emanuel in New York and often stated publicly that she "loved Israel." In the middle of Operation Protective Edge this past summer Joan told the media: "Let me just tell you, if New Jersey were firing rockets into New York, we would wipe them out. And Palestinians, you cannot throw rockets and expect people not to defend themselves. Don't you dare put weapon stashes in private homes. They started it. You're all insane. How do I know? Because I have been over there. That's how I know. And I wish the world would know. And BBC should be ashamed of themselves and CNN should be ashamed of themselves and everybody stop it already."

When Joan died on Thursday afternoon at the age of 81, from a series of cardiac complications following a routine surgery, the Jewish people lost one of our most outspoken and unapologetic voices. We may not have appreciated all of Joan's jokes or her satirical humor style, but we can learn from her courage and strength.

I am not going to waste my or your time with the rest of the article. The reality [from a Jewish perspective] was much different than as reflected from this article. Here was a woman who changed her name to a non-Jewish name and then spent her whole life living like a non-Jew. This "Jewish" voice was EXTREMELY vulgar and filthy in her public performances. She desecrated the Shabbos tens of thousands of times at least. She was almost completely non-observant. She ADMITTEDLY was unfaithful to her husband on numerous occasions. Being a member of a Reform temple is not much of a redeeming factor. Her remarkable ability to maintain a face free of wrinkles into her old age was a testament to her extreme focus on externals ["I have had so much plastic surgery, when I die, I want to donate my body to tupperware"] the exact opposite of what a Jew is supposed to do and be. Her life, her two marriages, her depression [another entertainer with serious emotional problems....], everything about her was a tragedy.

Now that she is no longer here and her neshama has been returned to Hashem, we can hope that the mitzvos that she did in her lifetime, such as giving a lot of tzdaka and making people laugh, her willingness to identify as a Jew and her outspoken support of the Jewish people, should be sources of merit for her. But we must not forget that people like her should only be used as examples of what a Jew should NOT be and shame on those who published the above quoted obituary. Baruch Hashem we have countless role-models of holy Jewish women and don't need or want to take a distant tortured soul like Joan Molinsky, Meila Sima bas Meir, as an example or source of inspiration.

For Torah and spiritual inspiration, it is best to go to shiurim and the Beis Medrash. Internet Jewish content is often dumbed down, superficial and even misleading. I have seen countless example of this and hope that the reader will be more aware.