The Jewish Week ( “JW”) caters to LW MO and gives some token space to Chabad. It has long had no use for the RW MO world and only negatives for the Charedi world and now seems as if its role on Middle East affairs is ala ultra left. Like it or not, one learns precious little about Torah, Avodah and Gmilus Chasadim from the JW despite the fact that the MO and Charedi world are Federation beneficiaries. Instead, JW readers are treated to a “pluralistic” version of a Dvar Torah, and a veritable bombardment of coverage re scandals in the Charedi world, etc, as if that was the only news about that those communities and the RW MO world that are worth the reader’s attention and that by omission of such coverage, such scandals do not exist in the heterodox world.
Even on issues affecting Israel, the JW is aping the NY Times to tell us that we should avoid criticizing a new far left group called J Street, and that we should side with an administration that is forfeiting American sovereignty so that we can fit into the “league of nations” and imposing a dictated settlement on Israel
Jewish Action and Tradition have long held the potential to serve the MO public but suffer from a few flaws of their own. JA is published seasonally and by the time a new issue is rolled out, a current issue is old news. The articles and letters in JA are always worth reading and do not avoid hashkafic or halachic controversies and JA’s archives are almost all available to the extent that the same are posted on line. JA has some excellent columnists and one sees a wide range of content of a high quality on a great range of subjects and much news about the OU and NCSY, etc. It is a far better read than the NCYI Viewpoint which IMO is a house organ with an occasional article of interest.
Tradition focuses on wnat it deems to be the intellectual issues facing MO at the expense of what is happening in the MO street. At times, Tradition strikes me as the ultimate example of the ivory tower like existence of some prominent MO thinkers. IMO, its web presence is better than it was, but the content is uneven except for the columns of R JD Bleich and R D SZ Leiman.
The RJJ Journal always has articles on important halachic issues by promiment and up and coming Talmidie Chachamim. Chaikirah strikes me as a very important and recent addition with a very committed and intellectually honest approach to issues of Halacha, Hashkafa and Jewish History as well as a great letters section.
Like it or not, while the Yated offers coverage of the Charedi yeshiva world and even respectful coverage of RIETS RY, which one never finds in the JW, one never sees or views women as spiritual personae who are known teachers of Tanach, etc or even spouses of honorees in the Yated, Hamodia ( which AFAIK is edited by a woman) or Mishpacha. Given the fact that Chinuch HaBanos involves very different issues than Chinuch HaBanim, I wonder why there is no Roundtable consisting of some of the wonderful educators and administrators of girls schools.
The Jewish Press and such papers as the Five Towns Jewish News offer a far more wide ranging view of the MO and Charedi world than Yated,which is obviously and almost totally Lakewood/Litvishe in orientation, Hamodia, which is Chasidishe or Mishpacha, which is Charedi lite and which tries to cover the Litvishe and Chasidishe worlds. In all of the Charedi publications, there are some excellent columnists and writers who are powerful advocates for their POV, who I respect as unapologetic proud Torah observant Jews and Talmidie Chachamim, even when I differ with their POV on a hashkafic or halachic issue. One can sense an attempt within the Charedi media to attract RW MO readers by offering editorials and columns that would at times attract RW MO and RZ readers such as their coverage of the massacre at Mercaz HaRav.
FWIW, many of the columnists, and the letters columns in the Charedi media, especially the Yated, offer a fairly good window into some of the halachic, hashkafic and sociological issues facing their communities. The Chinuch Roundtable and R Yakov Horowitz are two excellent examples. The Yated, in contrast to all of the other papers, also features a weekly interview with Malcolm Hoenlein. However, none of the Charedi media really make an effort to understand and distinguish between LW MO and what I would call a committed MO that looks to the RIETS RY for its halachic and hashkafic guidance.
On Arevim, there was a recent thread about the purported suspension of publication by the JO. IMO, whether the same is permanent or temporary is irrelevant because the JO”s role has been supplanted by Yated, Hamodia and Mishpacha and even the Charedi papers in Lashon HaKodesh, which publish on a weekly basis, thus filling and possibly replacing the need for the JO, especially when such JO columnists as R Jonathan Rosenblum and R A Shafran are available via email . FWIW, I find the Yated and Mishpacha far easier to digest than the JO, especially since I let my JO subscription expire after its infamous coverage of the Petirah of RYBS.
None of the Jewish media that purport to cover the Torah world offer the reader a review of recently published sefarim, articles in halachic journals or English Judaica on a regular basis. In view of the absolute flood of new sefarim, journals and English Judaica, IMO, such a column which R S Y Zevin ZTL wrote on a regular basis and which was compiled and is out of print, is long overdue for anyone who considers themselves a discriminating purchaser of sefarim and Emglish Judaica. Such a column, which could only be written by a Talmid Chacham with the broadest of shoulders, would go a long way in evaluating the merits of new sefarim and whether they add to the study and understanding of Torah. What passes for the same are essentially a few critical reviews in JA ,Tradition or the TuM Journal, but IMO, we need such a review on a far more wide ranging and steady basis.
Abbreviations
JW – Jewish Week
MO – Modern Orthodox
LW – Left Wing
RW – Right Wing
JA – Jewish Action
OU – Orthodox Union
NCSY – National Conference of Synagogue Youth
NCYI – National Council of Young Israel
RIETS – Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary
AFAIK – As Far As I Know
RZ – Religious Zionists
RY – Rosh Yeshiva
FWIW – For What It’s Worth
RYBS – Rav Yosef Ber Soloveitchik
JO – Jewish Observer
IMO – In My Opinion
ZTL – Zecher Tzaddik L’Vrocha
Charlie Hall-Recent coverage of J Street in the Weekly Standard and investigation by a blogger present at its annual meeting confirms that many of its members who attended its recent annual conference and one of its founders favor the establishment of a Palestinian state even R”L at the expense of the continued existence of the State of Israel. WADR, I consider J Street as beyond the pale as NK, as opposed to Satmar.
BTW, the Yated Roundtable boasts at least half mechanchim from girls schools and frequently deals with girls sheilos.
Everyone has to judge his/her own situation in making a decision about Aliyah. To move without properly considering housing, employment, and the like, is not responsible—we shouldn’t want to burden others with our maintenance.
“But, in reality, we should all move when practical.”
What does “when practical” mean? If the early Zionists had only moved “when practical” , Israel would still be just a dream.
If you live in America, don’t keep walking around as if you’re here but not realyl here. either be here and be involved, or devote your
considerably worthwhile efforts somewhere else. But I would suggest we should not be continually betwixt and between.
Fred-
Yisroel Besser is my pick for numero uno
Dear Shades of Gray:
I respectfully beg to differ with you quote: “One of the negatives of the Charedi media has been the fact that it hasn’t covered abuse and molestation”
As a writer, and good friend of the Senior
Editor of the N’shei Chabad Newsletter magazine, I participated in the publication of a series of articles dealing extensively with the topic of abuse/molestation several years ago. (This publication is one of the largest and oldest within Lubavitch, and it has considerable influence in that country club and it’s affiliates.)
To the best of my knowledge it was the first time the Chareidi print media addressed this topic.
Recently Mishpocha magazine and the Yated have published pieces (the Mishpocha’s was the cover article and the Yated’s was an editorial) dealing with this topic following the untimely death of a teenage victim of abuse/molestation in Lakewood (a drug over-dose).
Fred,
I’d include Jonathan Rosenblum as one of the best.
Whom do you consider the best writer in the charedi press?
DK,
Jews in America can view things from a Jewish perspective and behave accordingly without imposing a theocracy on America.
Try it; you’ll like it.
But, in reality, we should all move when practical.
Bob Miller, this isn’t B’nai Brak. If you want to live in a country that does things according to a theocracy, maybe you should move.
DK wrote on July 12th, 2009 15:19 #20
“Better to be as consistently right-wing as possible just to be sure, right Bob Miller?”
No. Torah is the yardstick.
Charlie Hall wrote on July 12th, 2009 17:16
#21
“Bob,
What anti-halachic or anti-klal Yisrael position are you concerned about?”
Any, from whatever political direction.
“As someone who is used to the New Yorker and the New York Times, I find our haredi press disappointing, depressing and even spiritually toxic, with its hagiography and bombastic oversimplications of hashkafa. Nearly every time I pick up a haredi newspaper I find myself wondering why I joined this group in the first place. One of my former mentors, a Rov and serious talmid chocham once confessed to me that he no longer subscribes anymore for much the same reason.”
I’ve given the topic some thought.
I think that the Charedi press does an excellent job based on what its mission is. It’s free of lashon hara, anti-Torah intellectual material , and any topic remotely sexual in nature. It is operating within certain hashkafic and halachic sensitivities, and they deserve credit for it(I recall reading that Rabbi Avi Shafran shows secular reporters Mishpacha magazine as a positive example of frum journalism).
The beauty and the main purpose of Charedi media is that children can grow up without being negatively influenced. Additionally, there are many groups wiythin the Charedi world which the newspapers are trying to satisfy, so they try to pick a stringent position, at times.
However, when you say that , “every time I pick up a haredi newspaper I find myself wondering why I joined this group in the first place”, while that is understandable, however, I would say that what you read is merely reflective of newspaper policy intended to take into consideration the sensitivities of children and other public considerations, and is not a full glimpse of the community.
My world is also, for better or for worse, much less sheltered than the Charedi media. However, I always find something interesting and inspiring there.
This past week’s Mishpacha had an interesting article on the Bielski partisian group; Binah(Hamodia Women’s Magazine) had very interesting article this week by Yitta Halbershtam, a writer who has published in the secular world as well; and Rebbetzin Heller’s columns in Hamodia Magazine are alwasys deep.
To it’s credit, Hamodia has begun to publicly cover various mental health issues, which were previously considered, by some, to be a “shande”, and taboo.
If you want a slightly less-sheltered view(and perhaps less-yeshivish) but friendly to the frum community, there is the Jewish Press. It’s magazine section discusses mature topics which the Charedi media won’t touch(for valid reasons).
One of the negatives of the Charedi media has been the fact that it hasn’t covered abuse and molestation, and has not sufficeintly ostracized the Chilul Hashem of rioters in Israel(at least in my opinion). On the other hand, there are other ways for the Charedi community to deal with these topics, and Hamodia has recently given publicity to child-safety(ie, molestation and abuse) gatherings.
The bottom line is that if your worldview is less sheltered than the Charedi media, you will enjoy it if you look to it for an interesting article here and there, rather than something which will fully satisfy each and every one of your interests. As above, it’s simply a public medium with public sensitivities, and not meant as a substitute for a Rav or a friend(even the more Modern Orthodox media have their limits as well in what they will cover publicly). In addition, it allows children to grow up without them being negatively influeneced by the secular media.
Bob,
What anti-halachic or anti-klal Yisrael position are you concerned about?
—
Steve,
I’m not defending J Street. When I checked out their web site, I found them to be completely devoid of any support I could identify as orthodox, and naive about the nature of contemporary Islamic anti-Semitism. At the moment I do not see them as playing a constructive role.
I’ll refrain from making any other political comments because I don’t want to turn this into a political thread. There are plenty of such elsewhere on the internet.
Many Jews will have to do a self-reckoning to make sure their habitual political leanings are not pushing them into anti-halachic and/or anti-Klal-Yisrael positions.
Better to be as consistently right-wing as possible just to be sure, right Bob Miller?
Many Jews will have to do a self-reckoning to make sure their habitual political leanings are not pushing them into anti-halachic and/or anti-Klal-Yisrael positions.
Charlie Hall-Take a look at a fairly recent issue of Commentary. J Street is a far left group ,and criticizes any moves that Israel takes in its self defense. Based upon Obama’s speech in Cairo and his views subsequent thereto, many in the American Jewish establishment, as opposed to the American far right, are indeed quite concerned over the direction of the Obama administration, especially given the past statements of more than a few of the President’s advisors vis a vis Israel’s actions in 2002 and his complete failure to acknowledge in Cairo that the Jewish People’s claims to Israel did not begin in 1948.
“avoid criticizing a new far left group called J Street, and that we should side with an administration that is forfeiting American sovereignty ”
Repeating talking points of the American far right is not the best way to show ones objectivity.
And after a particularly vicious and lie-filled email I received from one Orthodox organization regarding the Obama administration, I was ready to check out J Street.
Leonard Cohen-I enjoy the FTJT, despite the fact that it does seem at times to read like the Yated and JP, with a tinge more Chabad orientation. Mea culpa for not discussing its content and role.
Steve Brizel:
You wrote the following about the Five Towns Jewish Times (5TJT) a few years ago (I’ve removed the name of the individual mentioned so as not to contribute to your…well, you know):
“FWIW, Mr. ‘Ploni,’ a well known Chabad messianist apologist has created a ‘newspaper’ that now seems to have both the best and worst of the Jewish Press and Yated Neeman. I suppose he deserves some sort of kudos for such a dubious accomplishment. That being said, Mr. ‘Ploni’s’ comments…are some of the reasons why we never considered moving to the Five Towns.”
I have been a reader of the 5TJT for many years and have NEVER seen even a hint of Chabad messianist apologetics. And I was certainly on the lookout for it after reading your critique. Space is given to the entire spectrum of Orthodox Jewish thought, and the editorial policy is reflective of tremendous Ahavas Yisrael — for both the people and the land.
And to reject a neighborhood because of the perceived opinion of a local newspaper editor? Give me a break!
I’d like to add to the list of publications Conversations. It is published by The Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals which is run by Rabbi Marc Angel. Each issue to date has had a theme. The most recent, issue 4, was Orthodoxy and Religious Education. While I feel the magazine is still getting its feet under it, it provides the sort of LW MO viewpoint that previously was provided by Edah magazine.
This is a broad over-generalization, as any statement about “a secular person” is guaranteed to be. More importantly, I think it is a distraction. As I argue more below, I think it is impossible for a publication that speaks to “the frum world” — another impossibly broad category — to be satisfactory to all frum people. Why would we then demand that it also be all things to the other 6 billion?
That is not true of virtually any of the OU publications mentioned by Steve, which to my recollection have very little, if any, Yiddish. But as this blog and this discussion demonstrate, what is wrong with people who share a common vocabulary using it? Steve’s legendary command of acronyms demonstrates why it is done: So every basic concept does not have to be re-explained each time. Inevitably this will result in publications that are not going to be equally accessible to everyone with the same level of acculturation.
Well, there you go. Giving these basically (but hardly perfectly or consistently) excellent publications every benefit of the doubt, what local, ethnic or subcultural press could survive comparison?
That seems like an unfair oversimplification of “our haredi press.” There are very meaningful differences between, say, the Yated (which I cannot read) and HaModia and even from column to column within those papers, much less among the full range discussed in Steve’s piece.
You really have to keep in mind that hashkafa is not a mere abstraction. As was mentioned above, the heavily-subsidized Jewish Observer became obsolete because of the growth of potentially commercially-viable alternatives. Part of the reason the JO could never compete was that it had a specific, accountable (see Steve’s comments regarding the infamous “z’l” controversy as proof) organization standing behind it, namely the Agudah. The requirement that a magazine hew an identifiable “hashkafa of the Agudah” would itself constitute an imposing challenge to a dynamic publication of any value. But the reality of the Agudah as a coalition made such a challenge immensely more difficult. It is not fair to even judge it as a journalistic endeavor, and by this I mean no slight to Rabbi Nisson Wolpin, but merely that the JO was a house organ with the task of being for a very long time the only English-language voice of the haredi point of view.
Really, you are not alone!
This is a weensy part of the problem, in my opinion. There are definitely enough good writers to get this done. Frankly I believe you are probably not looking closely enough at HaModia, or Mishpacha magazine, which largely contain well formed and expressed expository writing. But what you really object to, and not without justification, is what often seems like simple-mindedness in the haredi press.
This returns me to my point that hashkafa is not a mere abstraction. As Steve points out, Jewish Action is often remarkable for its comfortable and frank discussion of important issues with seemingly no editorial constraints. But, surprise, that’s because the brand of MO that is at the cultural center of the Orthodox Union, which publishes the magazine, is pretty laid back about a lot of stuff, including stuff that is worthy of serious journalistic attention but which often reflects, in many respects, what seems to be a very laid back way of observing Judaism. And for this reason what works for Jewish Action won’t always work for haredi publications.
Other “less relaxed” publications labor under less relaxed standards. Among them are those more or less acculturated to the (largely mythical) concept of disinterested, bloodless academic discourse that makes so much Yeshiva University output so … interesting … until you wake up because the train is at your stop.
But that is different from trying to sell (key word) a newspaper or magazine to a population that is very sensitive to issues of loshon hora, hasagas g’vul, mesira and kavod hatorah… and which recognizes, sometimes painfully, certain limitations. These are imposed by the fact that the English speaking haredi world is unfortunately a very intimate community made up of a surprisingly small number of interlocking family-, neighborhood- and yeshiva-based groups. Therefore, much of what we would recognize as good journalism even permissible under halacha may still not be good business, or good humanity, because the subject of such journalism may be the relative, teacher, child, prospective spouse or benefactor of someone else who is vulnerable to the effects of publication.
Unlike the almost abstract limitlessness of the universes covered by the New Yorker and the New York Times, our little world is a very real place. And very real, little places pretty much never have good “coverage,” for these very understandable reasons.
Mr. Cohen, I’d be interested to see some examples.
Much in the same way the Amazon lets people post book reviews, the same thing could be posted in a blog form by the layperson. There could even be requests for reviews.
Steve, this was a great post.
In regard to your statement:
“None of the Jewish media that purport to cover the Torah world offer the reader a review of recently published sefarim, articles in halachic journals or English Judaica on a regular basis. ”
If anyone wants to start a “recently published seforim review/summary” blog, please let me know. I think it’s a great idea. Shoot me an email: neilsharris@hotmail.com
Anyone who denies that THE JEWISH WEEK is an Orthodox-bashing publication is simply not reading it carefully.
I spoke with my Orthodox friends about THE JEWISH WEEK, and we agreed they are Orthodox-bashers.
“One can sense an attempt within the Charedi media to attract RW MO readers by offering editorials and columns that would at times attract RW MO and RZ readers such as their coverage of the massacre at Mercaz HaRav.”
Why do you think they covered the massacre at Mercaz HaRav only as an attempt to attract RW MO? This tragedy touched every Jew. My father is far to the right of RWUO, as anti-Zionist as you can get, and he was heartbroken when he heard about it. He came especially to my house to see the photos of the boys on my computer and he was visibly pained, almost haunted, by their pure and innocent faces.
I agree with tzirelchana that the Jewish Week is not quite as evil as we like to make it out to be.
We (as most groups) tend to be hypersensitive to reporting about our group. We sometimes forget that news is, well, news. Man bites dog is news because it’s unusual. A pious looking man involved in some nefarious crime is likewise more newsworthy than had it been an ordinary man.
In a way, this reporting is actually a back-handed compliment. If we’re going to profess to live on a higher plain then the media has a right to hold us to a higher standard. Thus make our infractions more “newsworthy”.
Thanks for a good overview of our print media.
I find myself enjoying Jewish Week, Hamodia and Five Town Jewish Times. They are all maintain a high degree of professionalism in their presentations of their chosen material. This is helpful to me in making informed assessments of events in the Jewish world.
Tzirelchana–“I’m surprised to find a piece like the above on BeyondBt”
I’m not surprised at all. Posts like this are what keep me coming back here. Yes, the sane frum world exists; those of us who believe that the purpose of an open mind is to close on something, and that the up-hill climb is worth it.
Tzirelchana wrote “I find our haredi press disappointing, depressing and even spiritually toxic, with its hagiography and bombastic oversimplications of hashkafa.”
The anti-hagiography and bombastic denunciations of our hashkafa (and of us as people) in some “Jewish” publications are even more of a problem, even when delivered in flawless English.
Perhaps we don’t yet have a perfect journalistic marriage of form and content. At least the Yated and the like have two essentials: genuine attachment to Torah MiSinai and reverence for our spiritual leaders.
First of all, I don’t think the Jewish Week is the source of all evil.Unlike all of the other papers it is first of all readable, lively, factually accurate for the most part and generally entertaining , which the other publications mentioned are not, and yes it did deign to cover the molestation scandal which our blessed Chareidi publications chose to ignore.
With the occassional exception of aish.com and even they screw up a lot with their sappy,overly preachy tone, we don’t put out a single publication that a secular person could read, understand or enjoy. In most of the publications mentioned the lingua franca is, a blend of Hebrew, English and Yiddish As someone who is used to the New Yorker and the New York Times, I find our haredi press disappointing, depressing and even spiritually toxic, with its hagiography and bombastic oversimplications of hashkafa. Nearly every time I pick up a haredi newspaper I find myself wondering why I joined this group in the first place. One of my former mentors, a Rov and serious talmid chocham once confessed to me that he no longer subscribes anymore for much the same reason. I’m surprised to find a piece like the above on BeyondBt though I am glad for the opportunity to talk back. Sadly, given the deemphasis on expository writing in skills in most haredi schools, the state of Hareidi journalism if once can call it that is unlikely to improve soon
Can I just say… Steve, I love the abbreviations key.
than Yated,which is obviously and almost totally Lakewood/Litvishe in orientation
I resent the conflation of right-wing Yeshivish and Litvish. Most Jews who are Litvish are RW Yeshivish. and this is historical revisionism. I realize you did not invent this conflation, but if you were of Litvak descent, you would be more sensitive to it.
despite the fact that the MO and Charedi world are Federation beneficiaries.
Love that dig! I caught it. Did anyone else? Or was that one for my enjoyment personally?