Comments on: Chabad Lubavitch paranoia

By: Editor

Editor — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 08:46:02 +0000

About “Ceyde Weys”

“I’m very out-spoken and I love a good argument. I’m not particularly fond of religion.”…

– For those that neglected to click on the “About me”

By: Sara

Sara — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 00:51:35 +0000

I’m sorry, I was not aware when I came across this blog that I was arguing with an athiest. Obviously I can’t expect you to understand about the local shuls or religious life, just as I would not expect someone who hasn’t been to a bowling alley in years to know about the local bowling lanes. Please excuse my ignorance about your personal situation.

By: Cyde Weys

Cyde Weys — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 06:15:17 +0000

Mike: You’re right on. I’m sure to Sara the temple may be one of the most important aspects of her life, but to me, it’s just another building I drive by frequently, except it happens to have out of place barricades in front of it. I haven’t been to a bowling alley in years either — does my ignorance about the local lanes thus make me not a part of the community?

By: Mike

Mike — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 04:56:57 +0000

I’ve noticed that religious people tend to exaggerate their self-importance. That someone could just…not care is shocking! Clearly, you therefore don’t live in the state.

By: Cyde Weys

Cyde Weys — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 00:14:07 +0000

Sara, you make the false assumption that someone living in the community would know a lot about the religious institutions. I can assure you, the atheists generally don’t.

By: Sara

Sara — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 22:22:39 +0000

Do you even live in Maryland? This is not a uniquly Lubavitch thing. The government gave money to many of the religious institutions to put up fences in front of the shuls and schools as barricades against cars driving into buildings. Some of the other places to have such features include the Kemp Mill Synagogue and both Yeshiva of Greater Washington campuses. Oh, and if the shul that you are referring to that is next to the Chabad is Beth Shalom then it is a Modern Orthodox shul, not a Reform one. This is what happens when you live within 10 miles from the White House. We are one of the places that the GOVERNMENT has deemed in danger of threats against our religious institutions. If you lived in this community you would know that.

By: Cyde Weys

Cyde Weys — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 14:14:08 +0000

Jack: The odds of a synagogue getting attacked are less than the odds of a bank or convenience store getting attacked and robbed. I’m just not seeing a justification for all of the security.

Rabbi: Great, so now anti-terrorism money is being wasted on these things? Why did you get a barricade in front of your synagogue while the one right next to it didn’t? Are Orthodox synagogues a more appealing target than Reformed synagogues? Just because the government gets paranoid doesn’t mean you have to indulge their fantasies. So what if the barricade was free? You could’ve turned it down.

Aussie Echo: It’s both, really. I find Chabad Lubavitch to be too insular and out of touch with mainstream society, and in addition, the physical barricade annoys me with its ugliness and superfluousness. Don’t try to psychoanalyze me and tell me what you think I’m “really” annoyed at. I’d be just as annoyed at any religious building that put up ugly barriers outside of it, but the only example I in my neighborhood to complain about happens to be Chabad Lubavitch.

By: Aussie Echo

Aussie Echo — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 12:51:39 +0000

Your last sentence – The Lubavitchers need to tear down their ugly, superfluous barrier and be fully integrated into the community – sounds more like you are annoyed at what they stand for rather than some physical barriers outside the synagogue.

By: Rabbi Kaplan

Rabbi Kaplan — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 17:36:48 +0000

The concrete barriers were installed with funds from a government grant in response to a security anti-terrorism survey which recommended that this be installed.
SK

By: Jack

Jack — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 05:54:00 +0000

There may not have been car bombs in the USA (have you done research on this?), but Synagogues have had bombs. The Aish Hatorah synagogue in LA a few years ago is but one example.

By: Cyde Weys

Cyde Weys — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 13:26:22 +0000

B.Frank: So you seriously think a synagogue in Potomac, MD is in real danger from terrorism? Your use of examples of pre-Nazi Europe shows me that you are overly paranoid. That’s not the situation here.

By: B.Frank

B.Frank — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 07:48:36 +0000

On 9/11, New York City was an affluent community with a large Jewish population. Israel, with bloody attacks daily, is an affluent community with a large Jewish population. Paris is an affluent community with a large Jewish population, and a Jewish man was tortured and beaten for days, and then left dead on the street this year. Bagdad, Amman, Damascus, and Cairo used to qualify; but they got rid of all of them. In 1935, Germany and Poland had the largest Jewish populations on Earth, but not anymore. As everybody knows, I could go on and on and on.

Paranoid? How much Jewish blood does it take? How many Jewish murders does it take? Perhaps you’ll tell me when you get to me and my kids.