For the most part, frum Jews tend to be really honest people, but that honesty ends when it comes to the government. I used to work as an auditor for the State of New York in the summer, I would go with a team of inspectors to camps around the state to make sure that the food they were claiming to be feeding lower income children was claimed properly – naturally they would send me to a lot of Jewish camps and I got to see a lot of stuff. When ever I told anyone what I did they inevitably jump into some animated dialogue about how they would cheat the government and get more money – dozens of folks told me that when they were in camp, announcements in Yiddish would tell them to eat lunch and then return wearing different clothing to up the count.
If you ever want to start a good conversation with someone of the more heimishe variety, talk about government scam hock. Ever hear about the contractors in Lakewood who build section 8 houses for their own kids? Or the frum girls who become nurses and are then hired to be the nurse for their disabled sibling? What about going to the heimishe medicaid office where you don;t really need to prove who you are? The scams and dishonesty are easy to find when it comes to the government, don’t even get started on all the Florida and New Jersey cars you see in Brooklyn (insurance is cheaper in these places)
In high school we fulfilled our state requirement for physical education by walking up and down the stairs between the dorm and classrooms. I remember that the fire inspections were especially interesting, because one of the guys would make sure that all the smoke detectors had batteries prior to the inspector searching, then they would remove them and put them in the ones he hadn’t checked yet. I’m willing to bet that many frum folks have “home offices” which they write off and the inactive basement shul still counts as a tax write off for a place of worship.
Growing up in the frum community has conditioned me to be wary of the government, my father and others have drilled it into me that everyone hates the Jews, including the government. Whenever someone says that frummies cheat on their taxes, all I wonder is why anyone wouldn’t cheat on their taxes. I remember my first job that I ever had working on the books, it was for a Rabbi in Monsey and I was so shocked that he was honest -I told him that it was sad that it was shocking to me that someone frum was honest when it came to government affairs. So, unlike many of you, I’ve been conditioned to understand that frum Jews are just good at milking the system, finding loopholes and general shady business and this is all because of a deep ingrown fear of government authority which goes back thousands of years of death a destruction at the hand of the government.
I doubt that the frum community will ever hold of the government, but I don’t think it’s because they are dishonest, to me it goes much deeper than classic dishonesty. Although it can be tough working for Jews, most of my friends won’t do it – this is not because they will withhold your wages, but rather because they are sticklers for making the most out of their labor. Although I may get some flack for separating government affairs from regular affairs, I think that the frum community reacts much differently to regular business dealings. Yes, we have bad apples, but it seems that there’s a general respect when it comes to matters that have no government attached to them.
The government in the old country was evil, so working to screw it over made sense.. here, it just makes them look like the bad stereotypes that exist about Jews and scamming money. Sad, really…
Or when young, physically capable, intelligent men are on welfare to feed their 4 children when they could be working and not stealing from the government.
Don’t tell me about all the non-Jews who do that…we should hold ourselves to a higher standard.
I understand the “I want a learning” husband mentality and I respect it even though I don’t agree with it. But then find some way to be supported, whether it be by encouraging yeshivish women to pursue higher paying careers or not being a learner unless you have some sort of wealthy family member supporting you. It’s sad but in this day and age, it’s just not fair (and creates awful, awful, horribly sad but TRUE stereotypes) to take money from the government that should be going to people in need.
I have been at way too many a Shabbos table at which couples brag about their food stamps …stop the madness!
You said it better than I can!
Esther,
Just read about it in pirkei Avot last Shabbat. The world stands on 3 things, Torah, Avodah, Gemilut Chassadim.
Torah = husband goes to kollel to learn.
Avodah = he send his wife to work.
Gemilut Chassadim = They get plenty of support from the in laws.
Actually used it in a lecture I gave at an M.O. shul, not everyone got it, one woman freaked 🙂
It isn’t even “stealing from the government”. It’s stealing from fellow citizens.
Bingo.
Young and most likely health man, Heshy Fried was collecting money from his website visitors to buy car. He could get loan / credit car or ask his relatives for help. This is nice!!!
What’s scammy or wrong about that? He asked if people wanted to give him money (Pretty sure originally as a joke) and they did. He wasn’t deceiving or stealing from anyone or anything. People have gratitude for enjoying this blog and helped him out.
I was also working a full time job and paying my taxes as did I pay all of the taxes for any money received and for any advertising on this site
Yes, it is nice- he was honest about it. He didn’t claim it was for food/rent/meds and then used it on a car
This is just Heshy monetizing his blog. I pay for a newspaper, for magazines, etc. While Heshy kindly gives away his content for free, I see nothing wrong with his occasionally asking for financial support in return for writing the blog.
I’m torn on this. I absolutely abhor people who are physically capable, but sit on their butts because that’s easier, and why should they work when the government will pay? It’s a mentality that the rest of the world owes us… for what, I don’t know, but we are owed, and if we have to cheat to get it, then so be it.
But there’s the other side of things, as well. Being from Brooklyn myself, and the daughter of a landlady, I know that some of the rules set up by government are MEANT to screw you. For example, there are some inspection codes in New York that are almost impossible to pass (and don’t ask me to name them all now… I’ve moved). These were not crucial things like fire alarms; they were things like, “are your electrical outlets no more, and no less, than 5 feet apart?” And the fines were absurd. (My house was built in 1850! I have no idea how many feet apart my outlets are!) So, nu? You bribe the inspector. I was bribing inspectors since I was 15 years old. At this point, it’s just a part of business and doesn’t even feel illegal anymore.
We kept a good, clean, beautiful building, and we still get invites from former tenants to come to weddings and christenings (or whatever)… so it’s not like she was a slum lord, but for heaven’s sake! Some of these rules BEG to be broken!
It sounds like a lot of the places I learned about when I took Economics of Developing Countries. Situations like this are common in many LDCs (less developed countries), but it’s not something people in most parts of the United States are usually used to. I’ve heard stories of tourists going to Moscow and the police coming up to them and and asking to see random papers (not just their passport and visa, but documents about the hotel they’re staying in and other things) and if they didn’t have them on them the police would usually want a bribe (and even sometimes if they did have the proper papers with them they’d still want a bribe). In America there shouldn’t be situations like this that there in developing countries.
Yeah, something similar happened to a friend of mine in Moldova, but the woman ripped up his passport for not giving her the bribe. Honestly, most of the inspectors I met weren’t nasty about it; we just all understood that they couldn’t really make a living off of their salaries, and it didn’t really matter if my outlet was 5.1 feet away from one another, or 4.9 feet away.
I guess I should be more upset, but it was just how business was done.
“to me it goes much deeper than classic dishonesty. . .” It’s no deeper than dishonesty. They are stealing from every other taxpaying member of society because they fundamentally believe the KBH isn’t watching. It is simple theft.
> They are stealing from every other taxpaying member of society
I’ve had people try to make an argument that the money is hefker – after all, the government isn’t a person, and the money is going to go to someone, so why not me?
> because they fundamentally believe the KBH isn’t watching.
No, HBH is happy that a frumme yid is getting the money instead of an undeserving goy. Especially if he’s holding up the world by learning in kollel.
“Religious Jews are dishonest to the government” – Heshy Fried.
Not “SOME frum Jews are dishonest to the government”.
Not, “frum Jews, are just like any other group, in that there are
pockets of dishonesty among them.”
But rather, “Frum Jews” lie to the government.
Mr. Fried, I’ve attributed your recent comments mocking mesorah,
and such as just a byproduct of being a prolific commentator,
who has a proclivity to err on the side of non self censorship,
but at this point you’ve gone too far.
Let me make my point by issuing a challenge.
Read Mein Kampf. (I’m not kidding).
I will wager that if you read it (you don’t even have to read
the whole thing), you will find yourself saying: “hey, I agree
with a lot of his “points” about “Jews”. Seriously. Try it.
Anyone who hasn’t read Mein Kampf themselves, stay out of this.
Bu the way, I too, like you, am disgusted and outraged by THOSE
supposedly frum Jews who cheat the government, molest children, etc. and ignore the halacha against such, but wear black hats and payos.
I too, like you, am disgusted by those in frum leadership positions
who cover up those frum people who cheat and molest.
However, I am also disgusted by people PERPETUATING
bigotry and hatred of all Jews by writing like you just did.
(i.e. frum Jews are dishonest when dealing with the government).
If you ever go to the Haaretz web page and read the Talkback section
you will find that the paper has become a favorite of those who
hate Jews (comments disparaging Jews, BECAUSE THEY ARE JEWS,
get 4 to 1 thumbs up, or higher). Is that Frum Satire’s destiny too?
Sincerely,
a frum Jew with a yarmulka, who pays all his taxes,
but is “suspected” of cheating the government by anti-semites,
and now, by Frum satire readers who take your words to heart.
You do understand that when I refer to frum Jews I mean the one’s with black velvet on their heads, knitted yarmulke wearers never lie cheat or steal – though I’m sure they molest, every sect has a thing for those little cheder boys.
Heshy, molesting cheder boys is like Mein Kempf. You can’t know you’re against it until you try it. 🙂
Not sure I can fully parse the above thought of yours and figure out where the satire ends and the commentary begins, or vice versa, but I thought that most people assume that when you write “frum”,
you refer to all who are Modern Orthodox Liberal and rightwards, who either believe in trying to follow all Halacha, or believe in faking trying to follow all Halacha,
and not just black velvet/yeshivish/hasidish.
No way Jose – frum is a total social connotation, you don;t actually have to be orthodox to be frum. In fact I would argue that many who consider themselves frum are much more socially frum and less likely to be actual God fearing, law upholding individuals.
Modern orthodox Liberal is more like conservative with a mechitza, I’m a bit liberal myself, but still they aren’t really frum. They don’t even wear black hats.
When I’m sitting in a “mixed” shteibel here in Kew Gardens Hills (here in Queens we have odd mixed things you don’t get in Brooklyn!) and see people with Black hats babbeling about the stock market during kriyas hatorah sitting right near kippa srugah people davening with kavana, I feel that the black hats are not so “frum” and the kippah srugah one was, as were the other Black Hats in the room not babbling about the stock market. I.E. being “frum” to me (and most of the people I know in the YU/YI/Hesder/MO community is a function of the measure of one’s commitment to the observance of halacha, and as such we don’t see someone in chasidishe garb (or in a kippa serugah) who flagrantly violates the halacha as being frum. We call them, not really frum.
Now, having read what you just wrote I see that you have an entirely different definition of frum. i.e. what I describe as those who pretend to be in the frum community by making wearing a black hat more central to their “yiddishkeit” than things like not babbling about the stock market during krias hatorah, you define as the very definition of “frum”.
Presumably someone in the shteibel wearing a black hat who says to the black hatter babbling about the stock market, “Hey, shut up, I’m trying to daven”, you would say is not frum, because frum is, by definition, the fakers within the torah observant community.
I don’t consider people who violate shabbos by throwing rocks at cars, to be frum, no matter what they wear.
I do consider people who try to keep shabbos, to be frum,
no matter what they wear.
Since you apparently have a different definition of frum,
I will try to bear that in mind when reading your writing!
But it’s good to know, to better understand your points.
“frum Jews, are just like any other group, in that there are
pockets of dishonesty among them.” No, Taxpayer. That only works if the leaders of the community don’t approve. But all too many of the leaders of the community do approve. And not merely passively so but actively, making it quite clear that stealing from the (goyishe) government is not merely permitted but it is a virtue in and of itself. If these same leaders used your word–“dishonest”–to describe cheating on taxes or gov’t programs, the followers would stop doing it. If these leaders said, “theft and dishonesty are assur mid’oraita,” the followers would stop doing it. We are not “like every other community with pockets of dishonesty.” We are *unlike* every other community with so-called “leaders” actively encouraging dishonesty. It is a problem that will not be solved through your proposal of denial.
Well, you are wrong.
Frum leadership HAS openly, unequivocally, and publicly
condemned tax cheating.
For example the “frum” group, the RCA, says:
“Be it resolved, therefore, that the Rabbinical Council of America
Unequivocally condemns the dishonest behavior, including acts
of fraud, tax evasion, and conspiracy to bribe high government
officials, committed by those identifying themselves as Orthodox Jews; and, urges its members to clearly represent to both Jews and non-Jews that these activities are abhorrent to Jewish law”
This particular statement can be found at:
http://www.rabbis.org/news/article.cfm?id=100774
by anyone doing a simple Google search on the subject.
So, basically, you are wrong. Frum leaders DO what you
claim they do not do.
Yes, some people self identifying as “frum” go ahead and ignore
these statements and exhortations. What do you want the
RCA, for example, to do next? Set up an RCA tax police force?
You do realize that the RCA also supports reporting child molestors to the authorities blatantly against what real frum organizations like agudas yisroel say.
RCA is modern orthodox and who cares what they say, AVi Weiss who isn’t frum is a member.
I avoid business with NY Jews, and especially with Israelis. They are always looking for the angle, and they never believe what they are told.
But there are plenty of good people out there. I moved to Baltimore to live among them. It is imperfect, but there is a general contempt for the scams perpetuated by the Lakewood and NY communities.
I have no love for government, but for me the line is clearly drawn as follows:
1: Don’t take from the government. It poisons the soul. Not Section 8, foodstamps, nothing.
2: Tax minimization is perfectly legal (note all of Obama’s deductions).
Now it’s “New York Jews”.
See Hesh, – Mein Kampf, circa 2011: “Most Jews suck, except for
the few exceptions here and there.”
Congratulations Hesh.
Now you know how the Maharal (and Dr. Frankenstein) felt
when their creations (the golem, the creature, and Frum Satire)
went bad.
OK, so Frum Satire hasn’t gone THAT bad. . . . yet!
Dude, you made your point, you sound like a douche – no one said Jews suck. I guess this entire blog could be like a frum mein kampf – except for the fact it was written by a Jew who’s darned proud to be one. Not only that, orthodox Jews make up a very small portion of the Jewish population anyway and the Jew’s he’s talking about are even smaller part of the orthodox community.
Seriously did you even grow up frum? Did you attend a black hat yeshiva or hang around frummies at all? You sound like a moron – anyone who grew up frum can attest that we don’t pay our taxes nor do we deny it, we also know all the scams and loopholes – it’s all true.
You get an A+ in name calling skills. Congratulations!
And an A+ in unfairly maligning all “frummies”, as you put it.
Oh, and I do believe you when you say YOU lie
and cheat on your taxes.
And I do believe that you honestly try to convince
yourself that everyone else you think is “like you” also does it.
(“we don’t pay are taxes” – Anonymous)
typo alert – our, not are
Apologies to Heshy for taking up so much space
here. I should have just found and posted the RCA
link (which says it much better than I did), in the first place.
Well – lets be honest… It is a hands down given that working for Jews (both observant and secular) is a total nightmare. Didn’t even Mel Brooks say this in one of his films? Work for goyim. Odds are there are less games and usually you don’t have to worry about them welching on payment.
But yes, Frum Jews due to their lack of education believe the US government [Even though it was funded by Chaim Solomon (Frum Jews probably never heard of him)] is just an extension of Hitler’s Third Reich and/or run by a bunch of Cossaks. We don’t even need to get into the “Boy who cried wolf” mentality they play over in Israel. In Israel it is everyone for themselves – the “frum” Jewish leadership there is no better than the “nazi” seculars.
I don’t know what film Mel Brooks would have said “Work [is] for goyim,” but considering all the work, both military and in film, that he did over his lifetime (not to mention his WIFE), I’m fairly certain it would have been said in jest.
Secondly, “welching on payment”? Really? So, the entire global financial crisis is… what? Because the goyishe community is so honest? And I may not be frum, but I take umbrage at your statement: “But yes, Frum Jews due to their lack of education…” No, I amend that; I find your entire post to be insulting. You make no valid points, you just troll and throw out nasty little stereotypes. Why are you even reading FrumSatire if you’re so much better educated, and Frummies are such muddle-brained fools? Heshy is better than I am; I would have deleted your comment, as it adds no value here.
It’s a pleasure to find such ratoinailty in an answer. Welcome to the debate.
To “Seriously?” above (“I avoid business with NY Jews”),
and to “Baathist Jew” above (“working for any Jew is a nightmare”),
thank you both for proving my point (so soon too!).
Hesh, I assume this is not what you want Frum Satire
to turn into?
Well, being that this is the Internet, and not, some Jewish
Community Bulletin Board, that is, what it will turn into.
(Why I hate Jews, and Why Jews suck.)
By the way, you don’t have to worry about lack of coverage
of Jews gone bad, particularly “frum” Jews gone bad.
We have a newspaper here in NY, “The Jewish Week” that
sees it as its mission in life, to prove how progressive it is.
Which they translate as running only bad stories about “frum”
Jews and only positive stories about, gay Jews and women
Rabbis. Let me qualify that – they do run positive stories about
“frum” Jews – if its a “frum” Jew who’s in favor of gay women Rabbis.
Frum Jews gone bad solicite lectures on how frumness led to it.
Non Frum Jewish child molesters and tax cheats never seem to
yield lectures from the progressive establishment on secularness
causing it. Though to be fair, the frum Jews then do just that!
Don’t give Heshie the credit! My opinions of others were formed long before I found this site!
I want Jews to be honest, good people. I try to raise my kids to be precisely that. And I wish more others did the same.
I think that hiding wrongdoing is not a solution – calling it out for what it is may be the best way to actually find solutions.
“I think that hiding wrongdoing is not a solution – calling it out for what it is may be the best way to actually find solutions.” But all this truth telling is making Frum Taxpayer squirm.
Add Frum Satire regular “Ken” to the list of people
who have no problem with:
“I avoid business with NY Jews”
“working for any Jew is a nightmare”
and
” frum Jews, as a rule, are dishonest to the government”
The truth comes out.
Now that we know what you three people think
about Jews, what’s your take on Blacks and Arabs?
Or do you hold Jews to a “higher standard”?
Keep proving my point guys.
And Ken, if you had read what I wrote, you might have
noticed that I did (“openly”) criticize “frum” Jews who
violate the Halachot against molesting kids and stealing.
Who’s squirming now, Ken?
Are you writing poetry? what’s with the weird line breaks? It’s hard enough parsing your rants without them.
Frum Tax Payer-
You live in complete denial. What will it take for you to see reality? The “Daas Torah” ship sank… was torpedoed down by Hashem. GET WITH THE PROGRAM. The shift right was hands down the worst decision the “gedolim” made. And no, I don’t meet Right Wing politically – since they really aren’t and a REAL Likud party would force them to get jobs.
Hashem’s a kofer.
BAATHIST JEW –
“working for Jews (both observant and secular) is a total nightmare” – BAATHIST JEW – (see above)
Get with the program Baathist Jew.
In 2011, decent people don’t like bigotry against Jews
or anyone else.
Huh? Get your people to get off welfare and GET jobs. Stop distorting the Torah!
Who are “my people”? Frum Jews?
Read:
http://www.rabbis.org/news/article.cfm?id=100774
And get over your prejudices.
“Now that we know what you three people think
about Jews.” Excuse me. If you wish to “attack me with my words,” please do try to use my own words next time.
If you agree with the quote from Seriously that I excerpted that “hiding wrongdoing is not a solution,” great. Feel free to clarify your earlier comment.
In point of fact I have a great deal of problem with the kinds of quotes to which you are reacting. But if the “Gedoilim” are teaching that cheating is kosher then the sentiments expressed are completely reasonable and not the speakers’ fault.
Heshy, your blog is starting to sound like Failed Messiah. I expect better of you.
Now I know that Shmarya likes to say all the time that all the Frummies on welfare are lazy but everyone else on welfare should be on welfare. But the reality of the situation is that there are some seriously poor people in every group (including Haredim), but the overwhelming majority of people on welfare could probably get jobs if they actually tried. I encourage everyone here to to watch John Stossel’s special “Freeloaders”, it gives a very good description of the problems that occur when government and the welfare state get to big.
First of all, the “Gedolim” and lesser Rebbeim I always had
in the frum world in New York and in Israel , have all taught that it is wrong to lie, cheat and steal against anyone, including against the gentile government, and they all taught that it is wrong to cover up crimes. When scandals broke, all Rebbeim and Rabbis in the frum
circles I’ve been in, have spoken out from the pulpit against the
crooks and their defenders. I do know that people with Black Hats
and payos, and people with yarmulkas commit crimes, and there
are similarly garbed people who try to cover up such. But it is
hardly any more endemic among Jews than among what any other
group of close knit people, or families for that matter, do.
That doesn’t make such behavior right. But it also doesn’t
make it “Jewish” or “Frum” behavior.
My first posts were a reaction to the sentiments:
“I avoid business with NY Jews”, “working for any Jew is a nightmare”
and ” frum Jews, as a rule, are dishonest to the government”.
Since you have clarified that you too object to those persons comments above, I apologize for reacting to your “squirming” comment by thinking that meant you agreed with those quotes.
I am against covering up wrongdoing by Jews or Frum Jews.
But I’m also against throwing the baby out with the bathwater sentiments of the aforementioned comments.
The stuff I read today in this article on Frum Satire and the followup comments reminded me a lot of this:
“Hidden behind the mask of a ‘religious community’
the Jew lives as a parasite thriving on the
substance of other nations and States.
The kind of existence which he leads forces the
Jew to the systematic use of falsehood.”
“I do not know what amazed me the more – the
abundance of their verbiage or the artful way
in which they dressed up their falsehoods.”
Guess where those quotes are from.
Here are a few more (which may give a clue):
“In the Jew I still saw only a man who was
of a different religion, and therefore,
on grounds of human tolerance, I was against
the idea that he should be attacked because
he had a different faith. And so I considered
that the tone adopted by the anti-Semitic
Press was unworthy of the cultural traditions
of a great people.”
“Once, when passing through the inner City,
I suddenly encountered a phenomenon in a
long caftan and wearing black side-locks.
My first thought was: Is this a Jew? They
certainly did not have this appearance in Linz.”
“The fact that nine-tenths of all the smutty
literature, artistic tripe and theatrical
banalities, had to be charged to the account
of people who formed scarcely one per cent,
of the nation . . . The part which the Jews
played in the social phenomenon of prostitution”
“Jews act in concord only when a common danger
threatens them or a common prey attracts them.
Where these two motives no longer exist then the
most brutal egotism appears and these people
who before had lived together in unity will
turn into a swarm of rats that bitterly fight
against each other.”
The problem with Hitler was that he lumped all the Jews together, I said nothing about 99% of the Jewish population – I like to break up the Jews amongst the sects – like the modern orthodox hold of the government, the yeshivish modern are a debate, but the chassidim definitely don’t.
I am a hard working middle class citizen who also pays taxes. I am disgusted by the fact that there are elements in the Jewish communities who stoop to the lowest and cheat on their taxes. Just calling them out on their illicit activities render me a self hating Jew? It shouldn’t. The truth is people in those enclaves don’t feel honesty is necessary. A lot of them carry this arrogance on their shoulders that they have entitlements and we of the lesser frum crowd have to financially support their lifestlye and I cannot help but resent their immature attitude that I “owe” them. The problem is that these “gedolim” who you rever are silent in this matter. One of them even had the audacity to say that there is nothing wrong with cheating on your taxes as long as you don’t get caught by the IRS.How can I respect someone who encourages and legitimizes illegal activity? How do you justify them disrespecting the government and the citizens in that most deplorable way? As frum Jews, we are held to a higher standard of morality and integrity and are expected to live up to our titles. If one of us commits fraud or a felony of some sorts, then the whole community has to suffer from it. Covering these things up only make matters worse thus putting the communties reputations in jeopardy. That is why its in our best interest to be cognizant and live on honesty.
I wonder if any of you even read the post, it hardly had anything to do with welfare, it had to do with the fact that we as frum Jews are less observant to the government based on deep seeded historical factors that remain with us.
The entire point of the post was ironically trying to somewhat defend our actions as frum Jews who don’t always go by the book.
I also state multiple times that we are not like other groups, we happen to be very honest – it’s just with the goyishe – secular goivernment that we are not.
“we happen to be very honest – it’s just with the goyishe – secular goivernment that we are not.” What kind of narishkeit is that? “We’re very honest except for the people we lie to?” Perfect nonsense.
I think it was in the book Freakonomics, but it could have been somewhere else, where the author cited studies showing ‘classic dishonesty’ didn’t really exist. There are not really honest people and dishonest people. There are mostly different people with different areas of their lives where they consider lying/cheating ok and areas where they don’t. There were children who would think it was ok to cheat on a test at school but not lie to their parents and vice versa. Adults are more or less the same.
One of the best scams I heard of is chassidim, particularly in New Square, who don’t get marriage licenses, so they women end up as single moms with ten kids. I have also heard that in Kiryas Yoel they figured the tax break would be bigger if she is a divorced single mom, so they get married then divorced !
Now I’m just waiting to see who is the first to take advantage of legalized gay marriage in NY. Just imagine, entire chassidish yeshivos are gonna arrive at city hall on overcrowded Monsey Tours buses, herded in single file lines inside, while the one guy from the community who looks half decent and whose English is good enough to be understood by an average American talks to the press on the side saying “ourrr community is actially verrry open to ull types of people, in fact here we are tiday to be parrrticipating in dis exciting eh eh eh new venturrre, yeah, which we are very much hoping will eh eh allow people to see us as, eh eh eh you know, as we trruly arrre.”
The census data doesn’t support these allegations.
I have a problem with taking from government. I know very very few other Jews who feel the same way.
Seriously,
I have not problem taking from the govt, as long as it’s legal. In fact, I consider it a personal mitzvah to take advantage of every LEGAL tax loophole, to the point where your govt (IRS) sends us decent $$$ to Canada every year.
Two words on the subject. “Frum” and “Satire”. LIGHTEN UP, FOLKS!