I always figured that the Off The Derech community was immune to scandal, after all many of the members had left Orthodoxy due to the hypocrisy perpetuated on a daily basis by its leaders. Yet, they are prone to the kind of hypocrisy that we who remain frum have to deal with. Rachmuna Litzlon, star of last weeks super popular interview, has agree to keep shabbos for money. I find this to be tremendously grievous, it’s akin to a PETA executive taking money from someone who asks them to go on a hunting trip. I’m sorry, but taking dirty money is never right, even if it’s for a good cause.
I wonder if anyone else is bothered by Rachmuna’s lack of ethics, who can blame him, he grew up chassidish the only ethics he really knows is how not to get caught up in a section 8 scam. Maybe this scandal is good for the community, it will show them that they aren’t really as badass as we think they are. How anti-frum could someone be if they are willing to be frum for a little bit of money. I wouldn’t break shabbos for $1000, I stand by my religious morals, but it’s obvious that those who leave the derech have taken such a dive in their morals that they are sitting idly by while their respect goes into the toilet.
How is the lonely single mother, battling for her children supposed to feel? How is the ex-chossid who threw away his former life only to end up in a dead end job with no family contact, supposed to feel? Did Rachmuna take these people’s feelings into account before he “stole” money and claimed it was for a good cause.
I personally think that his misdeeds will lead to a dwindling of his powers, already the kiss-ass on his page is much less than normal. His chassidim are defecting, his status as community leader is not 100%. Real Off The Derech people would never sell their souls for a fiddle of gold and that’s exactly what Rachmuna has done.
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I’m going to assume this is good, old fashion trolling.
Satire and trolling are two different things. Sort that out.
Not sure if this is tounge-in-cheek or not, but there’s a lot of truth to the article regardless.
The OTD community (or un-community) constantly claims that Judaism is abusive and damaging, and hurt them in many ways, constantly painting themselves as victims, and even going as far (and as disgusting) as to compare themselves to Holocaust victims.
But here the truth comes out. Would a sane rape victim have a quick go with her rapist for money? Would a sane abuse victim go back to their abuser just for a bit for money? Would a Holocaust escapee go back to an active concentration camp for a weekend for money?
No doubt there are people who are hurt, as there are everywhere, I’m not questioning that. But this does make a point about how badly victimized they really feel by Yiddishkeit — apparently not very.
Your comment is priceless.
this is more like a rape victim having consensual sex with a kind caring partner as opposed to the rapist. nice try…
All sx is rpe. The fact that it is coerced by societal norms does not make it any better than more standard violence.
“All sx is rpe.”
Are you mentally handicapped?
Are you a rapist?
You could’ve just said “yes”, you know.
So ok, Dan, you are mentally handicapped. It’s my policy not to argue with the mentally handicapped. So enjoy your “rpe”.
[sigh]
He’s saying that all [Red] Sox are ripe [smelling]. Get it together, man!
Do you find this to be the case in your experience? 🙂
You might want to go back and read the interview. RL didn’t lose his faith and stop practicing because he had been abused or damaged. On the contrary, he speaks glowingly of his family and his upbringing. He left because he stopped believing and stopped believing because of exposure to history, science and other points of view.
The company he keeps and his interests belie his story. People who leave for intellectual reasons don’t care to affiliate as he does.
My favourite kind of article, skating the line between truth and satire with all the skill of an olympic star
Agreed
But do you hold he is allowed to use the eruv?
If he uses the eruv he is going off the OTD derech, shabbos is one thing, but getting int the community politics of flatbush vs. BP eruv issues is akin to a frum person getting their foreskin sewed back on.
Ouch!
Depends perhaps what he intends to do with the money. Unlike direct crime victim who escapes, the OTD folks left because their experience did not match th their aspirations, not all that different from the recent Pew Research Survey that showed attrition from other Jewish religious paths or secular American Jews overall whose ancestors two or three generations back were frum. Raising $1000 for tzedakah by leaving the car alone for a day, why not? Might I go back and sit through a Conservative service with its insipid Aliyah Sound Bites and macher swoops for $1000 to transfer to my fond Hillel Foundation? I could do that.
All the money is going to the Chai Lifeline charity.
As a popular Chabad song says “Ain’t gonna work on Saturday. Single, double, triple pay won’t make me work on Saturday.”
To some “frum” folks, it’s ok to steal funds from the government in order to afford kashrus, tuition and smachot. But you can’t steal funds from Hashem. “Shabbat l’yom Hashem,”as another song says.
Although Uncle Moishy supposedly is a Chabadnik, I would not call that song a “Chabad” song. Uncle Moishy’s songs have penetrated all frum Jews, even the liberal MO such as myself.
I first heard the song at a Chabad family’s seudah. So i presumed.
Who gave them the OK sign to still from the government.
Now Tim Rosen & Co. is proven right, Rachmuna is just a mean spirited asshole.
Exactly thekind of atricle that proves thatHeshy is not only anti-frum; he is generally hateful and spiteful to anyone who isn’t exactly himself. You should do teshuva soon.
Go away.
Only one bite? Meh.
I agree, Dan. Heshy, do teshuva and start loving everyone, frum and non-frum alike you self-hating Jew.
If Rachmuna keeps shabbos who can we trust, next thing we know Shulem Deen and Rebecca Ross will be doing mivtzoyim in Washington sq park on Friday afternoons.
this is great. I’d love to attend his shiur on shabbos.
Oh baby. The day that happens I will be reciting Chitas from the middle of the fountain.
Clearly him keeping Shabbat is not a breach in his values… He can not turn on lights and whatnot without believing in it- but interesting comparison. So he believes that the 1,000 dollars is worth having a somewhat boring and pointless weekend. He’s basically giving up a weekend for a thousand dollars in charity nothing more. So if one ridiculous rabbi is willing to pay him then I would say he’s the sucker if he thinks this will bring rachmonu back to religion or whatever his point is.
It’s not about bringing him back, it’s about kiruv, if he keeps shabbos than all of his kiss ass chassidim will form splinter groups and shatter the community morale. I just don’t know who the other leader will be.
So it’s wrong for him to keep Shabbat and wrong for him to break Shabbat… That’s deep.
Some existential shit bro
He’s keeping Shabbos to raise funds for a frum charity. I’m surprised you didn’t slam his convictions for THAT.
Seriously, if he left the fold for philosophical reasons, while still maintaining that the Jewish world still has some good things to offer the world (like Chai Lifeline), I’m not going to jump down his throat.
I think it’s a good thing to do, to raise money for Chai Lifeline.
He’s sort of breaking his belief system, but his opposition to Judaism is probably not based on Shabbos.
Someone could want no part of the orthodox lifestyle, but be willing to keep Shabbos.
Either way, no one should complain when a charity is getting at least $1500 out of this.
I guess it’s kind of like accepting tzedaka from a guy who was caught with a crate full of chinese slave workers. Everyone knows the Jews only care about their own, but it looks bad.
Chill out! Rachmuna only kept a MO shabbos. That’s far from a frum shabbos since he compared his level of comfort of going to a MO shul to going to McDonald’s. In his book, he was still OTD and did not violate his principles of anti-frumkeit.
Oh, there are principles of anti-frumkeit? That might be a interesting list to read.
You mean to tell me he was machmir to be late to shul, eat milchigs for lunch, and play ball in the afternoon?>
On a serious note I did in fact become disillusioned with the OTD because of their hypocrisy. I realized they were bending the truth and denying evidence when it didn’t fit their desired outcome despite their obsessive accusations of Frum doing so.It is far harder to find an OTD person that is really open minded and not a party line follower and hack then a frum person who is.
What is this party line you speak of?
I sat in regular seat at OShul when woman offered me 20$ for my seat; she wld bring it next week . . . asked for more, she didn’t get joke… I said don’t bring money
on Shabbos, to her. She insisted. I moved two seats away.
I spoke to someone on Friday night who was had also seen the story. Very interesting. I’m surprised Rachmuna didn’t mention it on his blog. Did he not want his readers to know?
I bragged about to all his chassidim all over FB.