Look at these knuckleheads as they gather for a bris. They are all packed in by the doorway. There's a whole room they can move to. They can even sit down. That's what I was doing when I took the picture. But no, because they have extinguished their common sense as well as their instinct to be considerate of others they all stand by the door blocking entry. I had to weave through them to enter the room. They do as all sheep do, just follow the other sheep.
A blog for people who seek alternative approaches to kiruv and the baal teshuvah experience.
Tuesday, February 10, 2026
Monday, February 9, 2026
Yeshivish clothing
Thursday, February 5, 2026
Jews without mitzvos
A Robert Trivers was named in the Epstein files. Trivers has a long history with Epstein.
"Trivers accepted $40,000 from notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Trivers made remarks indicating his support for Epstein to Reuters in 2015, even after his conviction, minimising Epstein's crimes and defending his reputation. Trivers said of Epstein’s assaults on underage girls “by the time they’re 14 or 15 they’re like grown women were 60 years ago, so I don’t see the acts as so heinous.” Reuters reported that Trivers said Epstein "is a person of integrity who should be given credit for serving time in prison and for settling civil lawsuits brought by women who said they were abused".[3][15] In 2017, Trivers described his relationship with Epstein as "valuable mostly because he is extremely bright, open-minded and widely travelled... he gives me consistent, warm support without me having to write endless applications for grants, and trusts me to put it to good use."[16][17]
Robert Trivers was born in Washington DC, son of Howard Trivers, a Jewish-American academic and US State Department diplomat who played a key role in the denazification of post-war Germany, taking part in negotiations at the Potsdam Conference, 1947 Moscow Conference, and the 1949 Paris Conference, later involved in developing US policy related to the 1956 Hungarian Uprising and the Cuban missile crisis in 1962.
Tuesday, February 3, 2026
What do sick men have in common?
What do these notorious degenerate criminals have in common?
“Give a Get or Go to Jail”: How Bais Din Arbitration Destroys Men (V55) Meir Kin 1.22K subsc
Description Right now, a Jewish man is sitting in Rikers Island – not for drugs, not for murder – but because of a Get and a “Shtar Berurin” he once signed in Bais Din. Another man, a seasoned attorney, stood before a New York judge and was told: “Give a Get tonight or go to jail tomorrow.” And in Israel, a Jew sat around ten years in prison, beaten and humiliated, sometimes in isolation with Hamas terrorists, over what they called a “Get.” In this video, you will hear their voices and see how one “Beis Din arbitration agreement” can become a weapon to break a man and corrupt the very idea of a kosher Get. What’s in this video: • Yitzchok Rubinov – calling from Rikers Island, jailed after a Queens judge enforced a Beis Din arbitration he signed years ago. • Moshe Eisenberg – a constitutional scholar threatened by a judge: “Give a Get or go to jail,” after signing a “Hebrew arbitration” under pressure. • Rabbi Friedrich (To’en) – explaining how Batei Din flip “recommendations” into mandatory orders, then run to civil court on “contempt of arbitration” to push jail. • Moshe in Israel – describing about 10 brutal years in prison over a Get, isolation, beatings, no siddur, no tefillin, and how a “Get” was written without his real consent. The common pattern: • In America, Batei Din borrow secular power through arbitration contracts; judges then use them to threaten or impose jail. • In Israel, the Rabbanut has built‑in state power to jail and torture men over Get issues. • In both systems, the Get turns from mitzvah into weapon – and it almost always starts with: “Just sign this Shtar Berurin. If you don’t, we’ll put a seruv on you.” I am here to warn you: Do not blindly sign Beis Din arbitration agreements you don’t understand and don’t trust. 🔗 Protective arbitration document (“bullet‑proof” template) If you are being pressured to sign something before Beis Din, do not sign their standard form. Consider using a protective agreement that forces the dayanim to justify any psak according to halacha and blocks them from abusing secular courts: 👉 Protective arbitration template (Google Drive PDF): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PR3e... 🔗 Bris Shalom – Pre‑Engagement Agreement to Prevent Get Wars Most of these nightmares could be reduced before engagement. My Bris Shalom Agreement is a pre‑engagement covenant for couples who are seriously dating. It: • Sets clear expectations about money (joint vs. separate assets, no alimony). • Treats children as shared, not weapons. • Affirms that a Get must be given and accepted without coercion. • Encourages resolving disputes privately instead of endless Beis Din/civil court wars. 👉 Bris Shalom pre‑engagement agreement (Google Drive PDF): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1k4yh... 📩 For questions or to request a copy leave a comment. ⚠️ Important disclaimer Nothing in this video is legal advice. I am not your lawyer. I am sharing personal stories, interviews, and my own opinions about halacha and civil law. If you are in a court or Beis Din situation, speak to a qualified attorney in your jurisdiction and to a competent Rav who is not part of the pressure machine. ✅ How you can help • Share this video with anyone in shidduchim – your children, your friends, your talmidim and talmidos. • Share it with rabbanim and dayanim who may not realize what is being done in their name. • Comment (without lashon hara details) if you’ve seen similar pressure so others can learn. • Subscribe to the channel and hit the bell so you don’t miss future videos on Get, Beis Din, and how to protect yourself from abuse of religious process. Enough men have sat in Rikers. Enough men have heard “Give a Get or go to jail.” Enough Jews have been beaten in Israeli jails over a Get. We cannot wait for more korbanos. We must change how we sign, how we marry, and how we use Beis Din.
Monday, February 2, 2026
Sunday, February 1, 2026
A man acquires a woman?
I was at a shul this Shabbos waiting for a bar mitzvah Kiddush to begin, but the minyan went on for three hours so I was waiting for quite a while (as I had already davened). As the room was nearly empty, I wandered over to the women's area where I was alarmed to see a completely different setup from the men's area. The latter, the men's area, consisted of tables with plastic plates and a plain white table cloth upon which were set crackers, herring, and bland cookies that appeared to have come out of a box.
The women's area seemed as if it were setup for a completely different occasion. The tables had flowers and carefully folded napkins that poked elegantly out of glasses that sat upon colored table cloths. In front of the tables was a huge serving table with three big bowls of different types of gourmet salad, and rows of fine deserts including mouse with tiny spoons and very tasty looking brownies, frosted cakes, and chocolate covered cookies that came no doubt from a fine bakery. It was all laid out in an elegant display upon risers of different heights in glass serving trays.
I have seen this many times before, but each time I see it, I am appalled. It's as if the men are treated like plantation slaves while the women enjoy a cotillion by themselves on the estate.
No doubt, it's the wife who instructs the caterer who promotes this bizarre inequality. At my son's bar mitzvah, we instructed the caterer to make available to the men everything that he was giving to the women and had to reinforce this directive throughout the event because he kept forgetting.
I complained to a yeshiva guy who fired back obnoxiously, "Women don't like herring." I said, "I like mouse." He fired back obnoxiously again, "Don't worry, the kids will bring you some." So not only do the men sit with crackers and herring, they don't have anybody intelligent or empathetic to talk to.
Meanwhile, the women give each other hugs as they stroll in the room after floating around their houses and the streets in their new colorful patterned dresses while the men sit in their black suits with ties choking their necks for three hours getting through Shacharis, Musaf, and three Torah readings, one for parshas Mikeitz, one for Rosh Chodesh, and one for Chanukah, that plus the haftarah.
The bar mitzvah boy who will be eating crackers and herring memorized all of this, while studying Gemara and davening three times a day. And his sisters? I suppose they have their homework, but it can't compare.
Sunday, January 25, 2026
Moreinu Horav Moshe Dov Ber Rivkin zt”l
Moreinu Horav Moshe Dov Ber Rivkin zt”l
5652/1891–5736/1976
Horav
Moshe Dov Ber Rivkin was born to R’ Ben Tzion and Esther Rivkin on 21 Kislev
1891, ian Zintsi, Ukraine. R’ Ben Tzion was the Rav of the town and, was
considered an expert in Shas Bavli, Yerushalmi, Shulchan Aruch and sifrei
Kabbalah. Many gedolim corresponded with him in halachah issues. From a very
young age, Rav Moshe Dov Ber was known to be an illui. He began learning gemara
at age 5.
Rav
Rivkin was a chassid of Chabad and most particularly, he was a beloved chasid
of the “Rashab” (1860-1920). In his early years, he learned in Yeshiva Tomchei
Temimim in Lubavitch, and he later followed the Rashab to Rostov where he
learned with him privately and was one of the very few people that the rebbe
wanted to have with him in the weeks before his petirah. During these last
days, the Rebbe Rashab talked to the young Rav Rivkin in Torah and their
discussions became the basis for Rav Rivkin’s first sefer, Ashkavta D’Rebbi.
While
yet unmarried, Rav Rivkin was invited to become Rosh Yeshiva in Tomchei
Temimim. He soon married Nacha Heber of Kalisch, later a noted mechaneches, and
immigrated to Eretz Yisrael where he was a founder of Yeshiva Toras Emes and
developed a close connection with such luminaries as Horav Avraham Yitzchak
Kook zt”l and Horav Yosef Chaim Zonnenfeld zt”l.
In
1928, he was invited to join the faculty of Yeshiva Torah Vodaath, a prominent Litvish
yeshivah in Brooklyn, NY. He served there as a Rosh Yeshiva for nearly half a
century, from 1928–1976. During his time at Torah Vodaath, he gave smicha to
many hundreds of talmidim. He had close personal relationships with the gedolim
of the age including R’ Moshe Feinstein, zt”l, R Yaakov Kaminetzky, zt”l, Rav
Yitzchak Hutner, zt”l, Rav Yosef Ber Soloveitchik zt”l and others.
Through
his years, Rav Rivkin published extensively in Torah journals and also
collected a selection of his chidushim in his sefer, Teferes Tzion. Rav Rivkin
not only taught Torah in the bais medrash, he was also role model to his
talmidim in how to use Torah as a guide for life. When he was seen shopping for
Shabbos, it was a lesson in itself.
Rav
Rivkin’s devotion to his talmidim was unparalleled and was returned in force.
Rav Rivkin’s talmidim were bound to him with such love and commitment that when
he was hospitalized in his last weeks, they stayed in shifts near his hospital
bed day and night. Doctors were amazed at the attachment the talmidim felt for
their Rebbi, recompense for his dedication to them throughout his life. Rav
Rivkin, zt”l was niftar on 18 MarCheshvon 1976.
Sunday, January 18, 2026
Sunday, January 11, 2026
Rabbi Nochum Partzovitz
Rabbi Nochum Partzovitz, Rosh Yeshiva of the Mir, was an admirer of the Lub. Rebbe.
Wednesday, January 7, 2026
Tuesday, January 6, 2026
Thursday, January 1, 2026
This is what the yeshiva world does to you
By not allowing you to get training in a field you like, by saddling you with insane tuition demands and NY housing prices, by demanding more and more money from you.
Wouldn't you rather live here?
Wouldn't you rather live here?