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HOW OH HOW DO THESE VIDEOS MAKE IT TO THE MSM?????????????? Blast it man, why do people do these things!!!!!!!!

That's what I was just thinking - I don't think what is going on in this video is any big deal, but why do they have to record everything?? Have your fun, kick back, sing stupid songs, etc...just stop recording everything. :)

You might look at http://www.wahm.com/ for some ideas. (WAHM apparently stands for "Work At Home Mothers.")

Thanks!! Looks like a few opportunities I might be able to get into. This really helps a lot!

A few months ago I read an article in some major newspaper (NYT?) re a company that trains people to audit medical bills for errors. They certify their trainees, and set them up to start a franchise-type business which makes its money by getting a cut of the incorrect excess charges found. Seems most medical bills are loaded with invalid charges. I believe insurance companies are the primary clients for this business. Google around and I'm sure you can find it.

I'll definitely have to look into that - that's something I could do.

Am sorry for your father.

me too, but he's otherwise a truly wonderful person and father. So i don't hold it against him too much. I just like to try to rebut him when he send me this crap, which is often.

his comment with the email was "Read it and weep" He apparently finds it very compelling. But you're right - no response would sway him.

Actually, it is illegal and these sites were shut down in 2000.

Ok, if it's illegal and can be shut down, who do we report it to? I'm happy to be a pretend swing voter, but I'd rather just shut them down completely.

I'm a Conservative Jew, and yes I have that self-doubt/cognitive dissonance of trying to be Jewish in a secular world

Do you think there is an answer to that cognitive dissonance aside from living a very traditional Jewish life, or is that the only way to really be fully happy as a Jew?

May I ask how you classify yourself within Judaism, and do you have that self doubt you talk about? If you don't want to answer that's fine, I don't intend to pry. This thread is touching on things that have been primary in my thoughts lately, so I'm very curious where we all are coming from.

Of course Chabad is about self-improvement and always striving to better oneself. No one is perfect. I know I certainly am not. I think what the poster meant (correct me if I'm wrong) is that we are more confident in our belief that G-D exists and what our mission is on earth.

Ok, I'm good with that. In fact, I wish I had something near that level of surety, which is what got me looking at Chabad in the first place.

honestly, i'm pretty much utterly confused about my Judaism right now, so I haven't got any opinions that I'm 100% attached to, except that I have to figure it out before I have kids, or how can I raise them Jewish?

On the other hand, when one is looking so hard for something, how does one distinguish between what is right and what presents itself as right?

As far as I knew, most Lubavitchers do not think Rebbe Schneerson was the messiah.

this is what i have heard is said, but every site I can find regarding Chabad has numerous references to the Rebbe, so even if they are not considering him the Messiah they are still very much concentrated on him. Is that bad? I dunno - but it's something that I have a hard time with personally.

They're unapologetically devout - that's their prerogative. I know of no antagonistic behavior from that group with respect to outsiders, which I find to be very unusual. I'm naturally skeptical myself, but I can't find fault with them.

I guess that's fairly well where I am as well - skeptical, but I've seen nothing that shows them to be anything but what they say they are. And one paragraph in the article sort of resonates - that critics of Chabad feel guilty themselves for their failure to follow even basic Jewish traditions and laws. I think there is a lot of that feeling of guilt, mixed with the desire to live "normally", to blend in, that sort of thing.

Maybe a group that makes you question your own level of observation is easier to ridicule than to face...

Personal experience. I'm Jewish myself and familiar with a variety of Jewish communities. The Lubavitchers (sp) have none of the nagging self-doubt that is epidemic with the rest of us - they are confident and prosperous.

i'm suspicious of any group in which there is no self-doubt. it's only through self-doubt that we find ways to improve ourselves. That said, I know what you are saying - there does seem to be a growing sense of unease among many other groups of Judaism, especially as the reform movement becomes increasingly liberal - leaves folks like me in a sort of a limbo.

That is not something my family believes in, and two of my sons married into very prominent Chabad families who repudiate this view.

I do understand that there are many Chabad people and families who do not view him as the Messiah, but (and this is for me personally, not for anyone else) I have a problem with becoming a part of the movement when such emphasis is placed on that one man. It was something that made me feel uncomfortable.

Opportunism is when they keep pestering you for money.

true, but in a movement that is aimed at growing in size, seizing on a chance to gain new membership and new followers to this sect of Judaism could also be a form of opportunism.

I want to be really clear so I don't offend you or anyone else - I don't have a negative OR positive view on Chabad, though I have determined that it isn't right for me. But I do have some curiosities about it, and since this thread came up it seemed a good opportunity to discuess.

They're the happiest Jews in New York, and possibly the world.

Why do you say that? I'm curious where that assertion comes from. I mean, I know lots of Jewish people, though certainly not enough to judge which lot is the happiest in any state.

I can't decide what I think about this movement - in the past I've been in touch with the local Chabad in my area, and they are truly very nice, warm, welcoming people. I just couldn't get my head around viewing this Rabbi as the Messiah, so I ended up not being interested. Since then, though, I've read various articles giving different opinions of this movement - some go as far as to call it a cult, which I disagree with, but it may be true that by aiming to reach out to Jewish people who feel they are missing something they are targeting people who are most likely to jump at the chance to feel a part of Judaism again. THat was the case with me. I guess I'm somewhere in the middle on them - I'm just not sure where the line between outreach and opportunism is.

I'm sorry your children and their children to follow and their children to follow, etc. have to reinvent the ethical wheel, constructing it piece by piece for their own lives instead of learning from absolute wisdom passed down from previous generations. Think of it: You've passed down no convictions, no absolutes, no values, no tenets, nothing except a few guidelines to give them a head start in life. Instead, you've left it up to them to figure out everything, telling them: "Sorry, my own legacy is for you to start from scratch like I did."

i don't have kids yet, but don't assume you know what i will teach my children. in fact, don't assume you know anything about me at all. You have my reaction to one utterly benign issue and you believe you know my moral stance in life and what I will pass along. Very presumptive. And utterly incorrect.

Or is it that your opinion of this poster is actually worse than what you wrote and this was the best compliment you could muster?

the latter. i'd have said what i really thought, but I decided to just be done with him instead of continuing on the same pointless vein.

i'm sorry your world is so black and white - it must be a very dull place

As of now, I'm done with you. You're small-minded and prejudiced, and you are teaching your children to follow in your mindset of small-mindedness. Religion does not exist to tear people apart - those who use it to that end have missed the point. The Old Testament God certainly had himself a temper, but he never condemned anyone to eternal damnation because to Jews there is no such thing - we are all accepted back into God's arms from whence we came. Even you, after spreading such idiocy into your poor innocent children's minds will be accepted.

I refuse to debate this with you because you have made up your mind and you insist on believing yourself better than all those who hold a different viewpoint. YOu are the worst of the religious right - the ones even _I_ will warn my children about, and I have the greatest respect for religion and religious people. But only those who are capable of extending that respect to others outside their little circle.

In your latest response, you took issue w/my comments (and I understand that and why, etc.), but you didn't contend that I proved my point: You indeed operate under certain absolutes in the ethical realm. By your silence in responding to that aspect, you basically conceded that indeed you operate under certain absolutes (okay, I'll use your phrase of consistent, ongoing, always-applied guideline to soften the blow here) that you live by and apply to ethical decision-making.

that's because you didn't prove your point. An absolute and a guideline are different things - an absolute, according to Merriam-Webster, is "having no restriction, exception, or qualification" while a guideline is "an indication or outline of policy or conduct". Clearly an indication or outline leaves room for consideration of various aspects of a situation, while the absolute would require me to come to the same conclusion in all areas, as you are trying to make it seem I would do. Since I don't think you are convincing anyone but yourself, I'm really not going to waste a lot of energy refuting that I was and would have been then (were I alive) opposed to the Nazis and in support of anyone who opposed them actively. This is because they were taking part in genocide, something which the people most directly affected HAD NO SAY. Therefore they had to be protected by outside sources because they could not simply gather together, go to Hitler and let him know that they were opposed to his death camps. I somehow don't think that would have done much good.

Mi>Those who tend to cite the "don't judge" Jesus scripture are trying to avoid accountability for others or self. You also have consistently posted a reasonable, practical argument that if a local group sanctions these educators, that is fine since it's w/in their perview to do so. But if an individual tries to do so, then, no, an individual can't define for someone else how to behave. While that's a good general guideline, it carries some fallibilities.

sure, that's why it's a guideline, which is merely an outline for how I approach a situation. Given the facts of this situation as I see them, I see no reason that you, a complete outsider to this situation, should have any say whatsoever in what happens to these teachers. You can spout your opinion all you want, I just don't believe you have any position to actually censure these teachers yourself. In a situation like the Holocaust, other factors would cause me to determine that this guideline must be dropped, as the situation is so garish that it cannot be ignored just because we are not in the vicinity.

John the Baptist, one of the greatest Jews who ever lived (Jesus referred to him as such), one time took on Herod the ruler over an issue that was completely legal. Herod was sleeping with his brother's wife, Herodias. (see Luke 3:19). John the Baptist publicly rebuked him. I guess you would take issue with that.

first of all, I don't care who Jesus said was the best Jew, because I don't consider Jesus one of the best Jews either. He's a prophet who had his time and it's done now, according to my religion and beliefs. So, your insistence on throwing Jesus in my face to make a point is beyond ridiculous, not to mention demonstrative of your utter lack of respect for people with a different world view than your own. As for your particular question, I suppose he was sort of a busy body as far as that goes, but I really don't care whatsoever about what theoretical biblical figures did or didn't do.

You see, this whole thrust of trying to quiet still, lone voices is the liberals' greatest thrust vs. living lives of accountability. In a word, it's what one Christian thinker has called "safism"--the attempt to make the world safe for all atheists.

ah, i was wondering how long it would take you to infer I was speaking like a liberal. Well let me ask you this - why SHOULDN'T the world be safe for atheists? I don't think they have a right to remove all signs of Christianity from the public square as they like to do, but I don't see a reason they shouldn't be safe and basically left alone. I only object to those atheists who try to force everyone to act like atheists, much as I object to Christians who try to force everyone to act like Christians. YOu have decided your morality is the compass by which we should all live, and that's your right. It is not your right, however, to punish people for actions you and only you disapprove of. Even John the Baptist only rebuked Herod - he didn't get him fired.