Comments on: “Call me clueless”

By: Grand Muffti

Grand Muffti — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 14:39:24 +0000

Pablum rabbi is at it again. Muffti is convinced that there is no greater sign of the decay of Jpost than letting his write anything in their paper, never mind a weekly column.

By: VJ

VJ — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 04:45:19 +0000

Yep, I gave up on Conquest right after this mindless screed came out: “What to Do When the Russians Come: A Survivor’s Guide”. They went down the tubes soon afterwards. Cheers, ‘VJ’

By: TeachEm2Think

TeachEm2Think — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 03:12:03 +0000

If you wanna read about the Gulag, you read Solzhenitsyn.
Everyone else is second in line.
Topless chicks can make you stupid but, with proper analysis,
it’s amazing how quickly you can wise up.

By: Steves Rick

Steves Rick — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 17:26:34 +0000

Once the genie is out of the bottle there is no turning back.

Popular culture rules. The problem for religious families is how to protect their children from it.

I recall a bit of a shock in my first year in a secular college seeing an old yeshiva school mate sitting w/ a pretty non Jewish coed in the sun, rubbing her legs. Out there in the open. Later I heard that they were having full intimate relations. Him wearing his Yarmulka and going to minyans at all times.

The same was happening w/ the other religious guys on campus that I knew from HS. Except me of course. I wasn’t the ladies man in those days.

But you do have many Jewish kids who believe/get off on following Torah morality in this context, SHomer Negiah and all that.

But yes, for the majority of people they think that SN is crazy and furthermore see nothing wrong in displaying their perfect bodies.

By: Tom Morrissey

Tom Morrissey — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 17:18:48 +0000

Boteach is right– times have changed. If I were still in college and found myself on SoBe for vacation, I’d sure as hell bring something like Robert Conquest’s history of the Gulag along to make the experience worthwhile.

He’s right about this, too: topless chicks make you stupid.

By: Grand Muffti

Grand Muffti — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 16:54:48 +0000

More drivel from Boteach. Of course universities are having trouble on some fronts: for one thing they have become far less selective as to who they let in academically. For another, as has been noted, going to university has become nearly expected, even of people who really arent’ equipped to handle the style of study etc. taht is provided there and would do well elsewhere. Universities are worried about money making because, at least for a large number of them, they are being asked to accomodate more students (see above) and especialy at public schools, they avhe to pay for them. and Muffti wants more collegues, all of whom want to be paid, so…

What does this have to do with some girls flashing and getting drunk and laid a lot? Nothing. As usually, Boteach weaves a thin thread between a bunch of vague abstract ideals and then calls it a day. Jpost goes in for a lot flack these days, but Muffti can’t think of any greater shame on their record than the fact that they let this guy publish half baked articles full of trivialities, poorly connected non-sequitors, random bits of data that are decontextualized and hence virtually meaningless in the context of his argument. If he wants to know about college, he should probably go and see hwat life is like rather than go to spring break, the period of time where students are generally AWAY from college and trying to get relief from teh stress of college (midterms are around then after all).

Universities aren’t there to tell you how to act, and certainly not to tell you how to act while you are on vacation. Muffti’s experiences at several universities at various levels of education can confirm to some small degree that you can find a wide distribution of types no matter where you go: smart, slutty, fun, prudish, mysogynistic, fruity…you pick it, you’ll find it. and sure enough, boteach picked a group and found it.

By: Phoebe

Phoebe — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 15:53:56 +0000

Oyster: “But it would be weird that Sara would be observant enough to know the Halakhic distinction.”

I’d think most people with even a basic idea of Judaism know it’s the mother that counts, even if they wouldn’t use a word like “halachic” to explain it.

Adam: University of Chicago, class of 2005. There were “spring break” types, but they were the oppressed minority, whereas the majority’s drinking/promiscuity was done more tastefully, at pseudoacademically hipster apartment parties rather than frat parties. This means I can’t comment on how accurate Charlotte Simmons-type depictions are, but can say that Boteachean “immorality” and serious intellectual thought are by no means mutually exclusive.

By: Adam

Adam — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 08:06:51 +0000

Phoebe, what college did you go to?
What was it like then?

By: Deb

Deb — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 06:02:43 +0000

Hmm. I live in the city where Rabbi Boteach did his rabbinical training, supposedly in a single-sex environment devoid of contact with such distractions as women. I know the rabbinical school, and many of its graduates, well and it was not as pure as the Rabbi makes out. Basically many of the students went to the rabbinical college here because it was so very far away from their parents and the supervising rabbonim were not exactly always on the ball.
Incidentally, Shmuley married a local girl…

By: Chutzpah

Chutzpah — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 02:33:40 +0000

Shmuely is brighter than most people and he doesn’t see eye to eye with the black hat world, but adopts many Orthodox values.

Going wild in college is a good thing, because then when you are 50 you can look back and remember the fun you used to have that you probably aren’t having anymore.

I’ve heard about plenty of girls gone wild in Israel while away on their year in Seminary.

Youth is for being youthful…and if that includes sex, drugs and rock & roll…I say “Toga”!