Our Worst Enemy (Rabbi Lapin on "the Fockers" and defamation of Judaism)

Toward Tradition ^ | Jan 25 05 | Rabbi Lapin

[Mamzelle]

I don't believe Mel Brooks compares anything but favorably with the likes of Woody Allen, Streisand, etc. that Rabbi Lapin writes about.

Mel Brooks (and Carl Reiner, dad of Meathead) was the one of the writers of one of the few sitcoms I really cherish, "The Dick Van Dyck" show. One episode had "Buddy" going through a latelife barmitzvah because he'd been too poor as a kid to have one. Very sweet --

You've got your putzes, and you've got your menches. Brooks is not a putz.

[CaptainK]

It always amazed me at how paranoid her family was that right-wing Christians were out to get them

They should get an ear full of the sermons of liberal Christian churches, where Israel is castigated and the Palestinians can do no wrong.

[vetvetdoug]

I am a Southerner from Mississippi. I have no sympathy for this article, the Rabbi's disappointment and the portrayal of Jews in something other than a positive light. We get this treatment almost in every film by the Hollywierd elitists.

[Vaquero]

Dont be stupid....be a smarty....etc etc.....

[wardaddy]

wow...Lapin says some things that would get you banned around here in a heartbeat.

i won't watch any moviw with Streisand anyhow but I do like Stiller.

[annalex]

If the good rabbi acknowledges the deleterious role of secular Jews in debasing American culture, then he should not be too harsh on the Jewish comedians who, like Woody Allen, satirize secular Jews. All the more so since when a Gentile makes the same observations, -- like, recently, Bill Donohue of the Catholic League, -- that Gentile would be roundly condemned as an anti-Semite and his message ignored.

[Kerfuffle]

Don't know whether to laugh or cry at this over-the-top whinefest. In parts of this, the Rebbe sounds scarily like a Nazi propagandist blaming Joos for the decay of Aryan Culture, etc. He seems to be projecting his own issues here. In truth, the Focker's jewishness takes up about 30 seconds of this crude, forgettable movie.

[MainFrame65]

" I am a gentile. Is it OK to agree with him? "

What do the rest of you think? Do we have to circumcise him first?

[Alouette]

FRmail me to be added or removed from this Judaic/pro-Israel ping list.

WARNING: This is a high volume ping list

[Clemenza]

Daniel Lapin is a rare voice of sanity in the zoo the is Seattle.

I, of course, hated Meet the Fockers because it was an insult to my intelligence.

[NotSoFreeStater]

"The Jewish commnunity in the US has been very much in the forefront of not only liberal circles, but socialist and marxist ones as well."

Absolutely true, Dave. Secular Jews are the strength behind many organizations that conservatives are consistently fighting, e.g., the NAACP, the ACLU, Hollywood establishment, Ivy League, etc. And yet to say this some will call me an anti-semite.

[jpl]

I, of course, hated Meet the Fockers because it was an insult to my intelligence.

Sounds like about 97% of the "product" that Hollywood puts out nowadays.

[knittnmom]

"Messerschmidts"?

[EveningStar]

Old joke. :)

[Celtjew Libertarian]

Lapin makes a decent case that Meet the Fockers and Woody Allen defame Judaism. However, he goes off track, when accusing Dr. Ruth, Howard Stern, Jerry Springer, and Ron Jeremy as defaming Judaism.

They are Jewish. They may call attention to their heritage. But as far as I know, they do not attack the religion itself, nor do they claim to be speak for all Jews. Decadence is not defamation.

BTW, someone claiming to be Ron Jeremy was briefly active on Free Republic a few years back. His user page is still here.

[EveningStar]

Liberalism has ruined Judaism.

Dennis Prager has said that liberalism has replaced Judaism as the liberal Jew's religion of choice.

[Annie03]

ping

[altura]

My workout bag is adorned with the Blues Brothers and the message, "A Mission from God."

It motivates me.