Let me quickly rip on Chabad. I tried to learn with a Chabad fellow here in the Chabad house of West Hartford. The rabbi here has impeccable credentials and I have attended prayers, so I figured I'd learn a bit. Well, after being schooled in Religious-Zionism, which is modern Orthodoxy's ideological wing, I can no longer respect ultra-Orthodox Jews in the way that I used to. As great as it is that someone with years in yeshiva can remember which commentators are connected to which sources, the theological foundation that has been the thrust of Jewish learning since the destruction of the 2nd Temple cannot be cast aside by a belief in the holiness of the Rebbe's interpretations. His interpretations are an opinion of one sub-sect of the ultra-Orthodox world, a world which has, in the past 100 years, created a warped version of 19th century Eastern European shtetl life and has built a Jewish philosophy that denies modern-day Israel. It is no wonder to me why the 5 million Israeli Jews who don't wear black hats dislike, or even hate, the half a million Israeli Jews who do. The ultra-orthodox are aggressively propogating an anti-Zionist message and undermining the State. This is all premised on the misguided belief that Moshiach will come and take care of everything as long as they pray hard enough, and nothing else matters. Prayer gives strength and Torah learning allows us to understand the ways of the world. But these two practices don't directly cause Moshiach's coming. What they do directly affect is our ability as Jews to build a successful 3rd state, a 3rd Temple and a society based on Torah law. That's the whole f*#%-ing point of Judaism. I can't learn Torah with someone who doesn't accept 2,000 years of Orthodox Jewish scholarship, but does enjoy cute feel-good sayings by cult-like leaders. Yes, we all like Chassidut, but it's not a substitute for the fundamentals of Judaism.

Jews have to realize that we have the power to change things because we can act in the Land of Israel like no one else can. In Eretz Israel, we have amazing powers. The world obsesses over us because they know that we are the vanguard. One positive act in Israel revertebrates around the world with greater effect than if it had been performed anywhere else. A negative act can have the same disproportionate effect. If being an intelligent observer of current events isn't enough to convince one of that, refer to the Bible. This is why it is imperative for Jews to build the kind of government and society in Israel that the Torah demands. And pretending like it's 19th century Poland, while scamming money off the government and dodging the draft is not helping in achieving that goal. I don't understand how people can read the sacred texts, pervert their meaning and then get away with presenting themselves as Torah-true Jews. These people are an embarrassment to Israel. And their fellow black-hatters in the Diaspora... well, it's clear what I feel, so I can stop writing.