Interesting Posts and Articles #291

1. At Life In Israel, remove your wig as a segulah to get pregnant. From the anti-sheitel crowd. This reminds of me the Imamother thread where shaving the head was promoted as a segulah to ward off cancer.
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   More recently, and a case of dog bites man, the dybbuk that wasn't. See also at Matzav. Basically, the fellow had a mental illness and faked having a dybbuk, just as in Rav Shternbuch's assessment. All those who said we are obligated to heed the opinion of the Gedolim, that the dybbuk was real, what say you now?
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   Also, even at the time, people were pointing at that in the previous dybbuk case, also with exorcism via Rav Batzra, the woman later confessed that it was a hoax. People dismissed this evidence. But what would they say now that this case also turned out to be a hoax? And just what sort of expert on dybbuks can be fooled in this way, twice?
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   Hey, if the Jewish people stop believing such nonsense, perhaps Rav Batzri can ply his trade elsewhere. The Catholic Church is looking for a few good men to perform exorcisms.
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   I'll end this by stating that not only was this not a case of a dybbuk, but there never was a case a dybbuk.
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2. Perhaps related, Rabbi Shmuley Boteach on the Rise of the religious charlatans. First off, Torah Codes:
   

   What makes an even greater mockery of the codes is that the Torah today is somewhat imprecise in that some of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet can be replaced by vowels and we are not certain whether the vowel, or the letter itself, should be in certain passages. Insert a few of these missing letters and the codes become gibberish.
   
   But none of this has stopped a few Jewish outreach organizations, most notably Aish HaTorah, from employing the codes as a principal tool by which to attract young Jews to their tradition. Little do they realize that Christian missionaries are now putting the New Testament through computers to demonstrate, through their own codes, that Jesus is the foretold Messiah.

   Also,
   

   Over the past twenty years we have witnessed a slew of mostly fraudulent Cabbalists and questionable mystics running around the world and telling gullible Jews their future. Many are Rabbis who even claim illustrious pedigrees. The majority employ a classic 'cold reading' -- where without even realizing it, you end up supplying the information to the 'seer' who can really only see your wallet -- and are about as capable of telling the future as I am of playing in the NBA.

   You receive a private audience with these much sought-after Rabbis and they immediately wish you a speedy recovery for your ailing back. They tell you they know you're having tension with one of your children and that your dead mother has forgiven you for the time you forgot her birthday. They offer sop and comfort, but ask them anything truly useful, like when will the next bomb go off in Jerusalem so as to save innocents from dying -- and they stealthily change the subject. But that hasn't stopped wealthy, educated, and sophisticated Jews all over America from lining up around the block to line these charlatans pockets and get business and personal advice.

   Too true.
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3. In another post, Rabbi Boteach with his perspective on homosexuality. Vos Iz Neias doesn't like it very much. And here. Oh, well.
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4. Vos Iz Neias about children who are fleeing the fold, reporting the contents of Mishpacha Magazine.
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5. A Yissachar / Zevulin relationship for Israeli hafganot? The obvious problem is that ain shliach lidvar aveira.
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6. Rav Shmuel Auerbach, that we must follow the path of Gedolei HaDoros, rather than pursuing new things.
   

   We have an obligation to follow the path of the luminaries of the generations, not new things that we did not receive at Sinai through the tradition passed down to us throughout the generations. We must not get excited over new trends and not fear anything chas vesholom,” said HaRav Shmuel Auerbach shlita at a gathering in memory of HaRav Shach zt”l.

   The problem is that this is phrased so ambiguously that one wonders how one could not agree with it, or whether one agrees with it. Certainly there are aspects of our tradition that we maintain, and are proud that we maintain them. At the same time, there are new things which we do adopt. Zippers, and flush toilets, for example. I don't think anyone rejects them. But some people do reject Coca Cola,  pizza, and ice cream while others do not. Is the Brisker Derech a new trend, or was it? What about the new trend of despising work? I suspect, though I don't know, that this has to do with secular education.
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7. I never got around to posting this, but here are post-Simchat Torah thoughts from Jewish Worker, about the length of hakafot.
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8. One reason to appreciate our wonderful country -- in China, dissidents and petitioners are being locked up in mental wards.