Do you ever recall an Orthodox organization issuing a strong statement against LGBTQ? I don’t. Truthfully, at this point, I would not be happy to issue such a statement either, unless they try infiltrating our schools. The statement would accomplish nothing and cause an unnecessary provocation.
About ten years ago, a rabbi in a very prominent Orthodox synagogue in the Northeast publicly criticized the Boy Scouts of America for allowing gay boys to join. The president of the shul threw down his talis in the middle of the rabbi’s speech and stormed out the building. Eventually, the rabbi, an extremely fine talmid chacham, was dismissed. Was it the wisest thing for the rabbi to do? That can be debated. But how did it get to a point where a rabbi in an Orthodox institution is removed for stating something obviously prohibited in the Torah?
Years back, I was involved with an organization called The Alliance for Marriage. Headed by a non-Jew, Matt Daniels, the AFM included prominent African American and Hispanic leaders. We held meetings and small rallies in Washington, DC, in order to try to avert official recognition of same-gender marriage. At the time, notable Democrats, such as Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, were against such marriages – until they were for it. Now the organization is defunct. The issue is a fait accompli. The entire LGBTQ agenda has bulldozed its way into society.
The other day, someone I know was at a trade show in a Midwest town. He sent me a picture of the public bathroom sign in the arena where the show was taking place. It shows a silhouette of a man (I guess) and a woman (I guess) with the sign reading “Gender-Neutral Restroom.” He asked me my thoughts. I told him the emperor has no clothes and everyone is fine with it; how pathetic.
You may have seen a video in which a hooded gentleman of Stockton, California, is seen swiping rows of merchandise in a 7-Eleven into a large trash can as an onlooker brazenly proclaims to the owners that the police won’t help them. Well, the owners, who were robbed by this individual before, had enough. One partner grabbed the perp while the other beat him mercilessly with a broomstick.
You guessed it! The owners are now under investigation for assault. I am sure 7-Eleven will eventually remove them from store ownership. If this took place in New York City, undoubtedly DA Alvin Bragg would have the owners in Rikers Island by now and offer a financial settlement with the thief.
Former President Trump is undergoing his umpteenth indictment for who knows what. This, after enduring four years of the Russian hoax (of which we now know exactly who the perpetrators of the hoax were) plus two impeachments.
Meanwhile, Joe Biden sails along, sitting seaside during another well-deserved vacation, seemingly without a care in the world. This, after two IRS agents and a former friend testified about the millions of dollars that went through shell companies from foreign countries to the Biden family. They also outlined that the FBI and DOJ warned them to keep hands off of Hunter Biden. Letters and other documents made it clear that Joe was keenly aware of his son’s business dealings, despite his repeated denials during and after the campaign. The Democrats are reduced to howling that there is not a “shred of evidence” to implicate Joe. If eye witnesses, computer recordings, emails, and personal notes are not evidence, then what is?
And don’t forget that it was Joe who bragged on camera that, under the threat of losing millions in US foreign aid, he forced the Ukrainian attorney general to lay off his son Hunter. Yet Trump was impeached for calling the Ukrainians to ask them to investigate the matter. Go scratch your head. You will never figure it out.
I am no longer the greatest fan of Donald Trump, although as Jews we are greatly indebted to him for his treatment of Israel. That comes to full relief as we see how the Biden administration is trying to bully Netanyahu into submission. The political hypocrisy has never been more blatant. Biden has totally weaponized the justice system and basically the country takes it with a yawn. Honestly, if you are a Biden supporter, are you okay with this?
How does this happen? How does the entire LGBTQ agenda become adopted as the norm in society? How has it become normal for public restrooms to be shared by men and women? How have even the Orthodox been timid about these issues? How have criminals become lionized while the victims are condemned? How has Biden been able to carry on with no worries?
Very simple: It’s the media. If the media is not interested in covering a topic, then no matter how much the public knows, it’s a tree falling in the forest with no one to hear it. It’s the same reason that the left in Israel is so overpowering. Except for one or two outlets, the entire Israeli media is with the left.
Once the media sets the agenda, the conversation changes to their dictates. Up is down. Down is up. Left is right. Right is left. Too bad on you if you don’t like it. And you better get to like it.
I am very disappointed with The Wall Street Journal. I canceled my subscription to The New York Times years ago in favor of the WSJ. I thought it would be a more balanced paper. But I see it’s not. Any Trump negative story gets screaming headlines, while the Biden scandal gets nary a word. Their coverage of Israel is only a notch above The Times, and that’s not saying much. The harrowing testimony given in Congress from Gold Star parents who lost their children in the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal was entirely ignored by the media, including the WSJ. Only Fox News carried it, to my knowledge. What saves the paper is their Editorial Board, which is not only sensible, logical, and balanced, it’s the one section of the paper where you can catch a bit of news that is not in concert with the left.
So, it’s the media that sets the world agenda. That is scarier than anything Trump is accused of.
Rabbi Yoel Schonfeld is the Rabbi Emeritus of the Young Israel of Kew Gardens Hills, President of the Coalition for Jewish Values, former President of the Vaad Harabonim of Queens, and the Rabbinic Consultant for the Queens Jewish Link.
