There is a blog called JewSchool that contains much Jewish and Israel-related commentary. It contains the views of a number of bloggers, one of whom goes by the name “Mobius.”
I have had a few online discussions with Mobius in the past, such as this one when he called the amazing Natan Sharansky a “notoriously scummy politician”, and this one when he played on Arnold Schwartznegger’s nazi past without acknowledging his generous contributions to Jewish causes. But it is this post that has prompted me to speak out against him:
Never missing an opportunity to make Orthodox Jews look like fundamentalist maniacs, Aish HaTorah provides this lovely article on “The Spiritual Roots of Anti-Semitism,” citing antisemitism as God’s punishment for assimilation.
Mobius then makes this statement in the comments section:
these beliefs are remanants of a mythology which was created solely with the intent to scare jews into observing torah
Now while I am supportive of the right for a person to express their opinions, I find it troubling that someone who operates a site called “JewSchool” would use it to disparage the religion of the Jews. And make not mistake – Mobius is clearly disparaging Judaism. The Aish HaTorah article is articulating a widespread belief within mainstream Orthodox Judaism. Whether you choose to agree with it or not is an entirely different issue. But to insinuate that it is a “mythology which was created solely with the intent to scare jews into observing torah” is not only blatantly false, but is also highly offensive to practioners of the religion.
I probably would not feel the need to comment on this had it not been for the fact that his blog is named “JewSchool.” When I first came across it (it was actually recommended to me by a commenter), I initially thought that it was going to be an educational site about Judaism. It would never have crossed my mind that it would actually contain opinions that disparage Judaism and Jewish belief.
Having said all of that, Mobius has every right to express his opinions (not all of which I disagree with, by the way). Mobius reflects the reality that there is wide range of opinion within the Jewish world. It is just unfortunate that he has felt the need to rubbish his very own religion.
