The good, the bad, and the ugly: Rabbi Moshe Gutnick's letter, NSWKA's ad and the AJN's continuing promotion of non-Kosher products

We were mightily pleased to see a letter to the editor (published in both editions of the AJN *) from Rabbi Moshe Gutnick where he slams them for repeatedly offending observant readers with advertising of treif products. He makes the point that we have oft stated in this blog that no Muslim publication would ever advertise a product that is banned buy their religion,

 

So on behalf of AJNWatch and its readers we wish to publicly thank Reb Moshe with "a groyser Yasher Koach" for his unyielding and uncompromising public stance. We may be wrong, but to the best of our memories, this may be a first for one of our rabbis who is involved in Kashrut matters to so publicly criticise the newspaper. ילמדו וממנו his colleagues in Melbourne and elsewhere to come out and condemn the "organ of Australian Jewry" when they so disgracefully sell out our traditions and religion for a few dollars (actually a commodity which the publisher Robert Magid is not short of.)

We have long suggested that all Jews who are pained seeing Torah values being degraded and tread upon by the AJN should use whatever is in their power to express their disgust. Not only with letters to the editor, but to join the many who already  ban the paper from their homes. After all, why should their family members - especially the young and impressionable be exposed to a "Jewish" publication, advancing chazir treif establishments and products as well as immodest images and articles that border on (and often actual) apikorsut? Add to that the weekly Chazerai and dreckerati reporting on page 2 and one comes to the conclusion that this rag doesn't belong in any decent home - religious or not. 

Thus, seeing how money-hungry the AJN is, to place some pressure on the publishers, there should be - if not a total - then a partial boycott, on advertising therein.

To explain, we do understand that often when having to get a message across to the wider community, an ad in the Hamodia may not be enough. But why, for Heaven's sake, do our Shuls and especially Chabad organizations have to place such HUGE and expensive advertisements in the Jewish News? The message will get through just as well with a smaller insert.

(Talking of which, we must express our dismay at the organizers of the Daf Yomi Siyum for their full-page colour ad in last week's edition of this clearly anti-Torah newspaper. We suggest that they do a quick survey amongst those who are studying the daily Daf and  will realise that not even 10% ever read the AJN.)

Coming back to Rabbi Gutnick's letter, now imagine our shock, after feeling so chuffed at reading the rabbi's criticism, (and to be honest, somewhat surprised that the AJN allowed it through), when a few pages later we see a half-page ad, placed and paid for by non-other than Rabbi Moshe Gutnick's organisation - the NSW Kashrut Authority! (That at least explains why the AJN published his letter. They obviously take the view, "criticise us as much as you like - as long as you continue shovelling thousands of your dollars our way".) This ad is, by the way, is a repeat of the one that the AJN placed side by side with a Treif establishment just a few weeks ago.

 So Reb Moshe, if you are truly upset at the actions of the AJN, the first thing you should be doing is deeply cutting back on your spending with them. You and your fellow Rabbanim, Shuls, schools and Chabad Houses etc.

Here is another full-page ad in the same issue:

 Note the disclaimer at the top of the ad declaring that the "Challah" is not Kosher!

To paraphrase yourself; "Do you think a newspaper serving the Muslim community that advertised pork chops would be receiving paid advertisements from Imams, Mosques or Halal certification authorities?"

Think about it Rabbi. And then place this matter (including the Muslim example) on the agenda of the next meetings of ORA and RCNSW. (And contact your brother, who runs the Melbourne versions of KA and Rabbinical Council, to assist you in bringing an end to this terrible Chillul Hashem.)

As we see from the AJN's recent issue, (despite the fact that it is a plaything for the latest in the long line of Jewish tycoons - who eventually to toss it away after having their few years of fun), the moguls that run it aren't overly happy to keep dipping into their billions to prop it up. They too seem concerned about where the print media in this country is headed. One of the ways that they reassure and comfort themselves is that "only the print version can be read by observant Jews on Shabbat". Not that this stops them from offending and hurting the feelings of this sector of the community.

Robert Magid should watch out. If he wants to have something to handball sooner or later to the next Jewish moneybags he shouldn't be out their upsetting his readers. Remember, young people generally don't buy the AJN anyway, so they definitely have a problem coming. Meanwhile the religious and traditional community is growing in leaps and bounds - and they already have an alternative with the Hamodia  whose circulation continues to grow despite the hefty $6 cover price. Many still buy the AJN as well, but will the next generation be so tolerant to being spat in their faces? We doubt it.

 *Apropos the Letters pages, we notice that the AJN have adopted a new trend in saving money by having identical letters and even editorials in both editions - even when the material may be totally irrelevant in the other city. Eg, Rabbi Gutnick's letter was referring to a ad that only appeared in the Sydney version. What other money-saving ideas can we expect in the near future?

Praise for the Hamodia - from unlikely source

It is rare to find Jewish publications praising the work of their competitors. But following in the wake of the tragedy of young Leib Kletzky z"l the NY Jewish Week published the following piece commending the Hamodia for its sensitive reporting of this heartbeaking story.

There was a sign outside the apartment in Borough Park where Leiby Kletzky’s family was sitting shiva for him last week that said: “DO NOT share rumors, stories and information you have heard – at all!!”

Many newspapers quoted the words of the sign and then immediately violated its proscription by going on in graphic detail about the abduction and grisly murder of the 8-year-old Haredi boy. But one paper that did not detail the “rumors, stories and information” was Hamodia, a Brooklyn paper that calls itself “the Daily Newspaper of Torah Jewry.”

From the time Leiby was reported missing, Hamodia used its pages to help get the word out. It covered the extensive search for Leiby and told of the 3,000 volunteers who scoured the neighborhood “block by block” looking for clues. It also praised “the Catholic, Asian and Pakistani communities” for handing out flyers with information and for alerting people to “keep an eye out for the missing boy.”

Addressing its own readership, Hamodia asked them to “daven and say tehillim for the safe return of Yehudah ben Ita Esther.”

When the body of Leiby was found, it was a major story, both in New York and around the world. The murder had all the earmarks of a classic tabloid story: A missing child, a search, clues, a surveillance video, dashed hopes, blood and dismemberment. But it had more than that. It also parted the curtains on a private and insular community that the public rarely gets to see. And then it had the ultimate surprise: the suspected killer was not from the outside, but one of its own, a Jew named Levi Aron.

The Daily News and the New York Post outdid each other with sensational headlines, like “Gone in a Flash,” “Monster,” “Every Parent’s Nightmare,” “Twisted,” “Confessions of a Lunatic” and “the Butcher of Brooklyn.”

While the tabloids were on the story from the beginning, reporting the disappearance of the boy and the search that was underway, the New York Times came to it late. The Times, which generally shies away from “missing children” stories, did not write about Leiby until he was found dead. Then they pulled out all the stops.

The Times was, to be sure, more understated than the tabloids, but all the gory details of the murder were there. Over the next few days, the paper explored the story from every angle, including a front page report on what the Orthodox community has done in recent years to investigate sexual predators in its midst. Joseph Berger wrote a touching article about the ritual of shiva and Clyde Haberman did a sensitive interview with the father of another celebrated kidnap victim, Etan Patz.

Hamodia’s coverage, on the other hand, was incredibly restrained. An article about Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly’s press conference only suggested the horror without detailing it. “Every piece of information increased the pain within the press briefing room,” the unnamed Hamodia reporter wrote without telling what the information was. “Seasoned reporters – who have heard it all – were visibly shaken by the steady shower of facts.”

Later in the article, the writer added: “One reporter asked if the suspect is a member of the same community. Mr. Kelly paused, seemingly looking for a tactful way to respond, then simply said that the suspect was dressed as an Orthodox Jew.”

Only once in Hamodia is the suspect’s name mentioned and this was in an Associated Press story that was heavily edited to fit Hamodia’s standards.

Rabbi Avi Shafran, director of public affairs at Agudath Israel of America and an editor at another Haredi publication, Ami Magazine, said that the restraint shown by Hamodia “was very characteristic” of such papers. “Events may be important, but grisly details are seen as unseemly to write about,” he said. “And what’s more, children read such papers too and there is a haredi reluctance to expose young kids to such details.”

Indeed, the articles in Hamodia focused on prevention and intervention, among them “What to Say to Your Child,” “Suggestions for Parents in Dealing with Child Trauma,” “Rules of Conduct in an Insane World” and “Where Do We Go From Here?”

Perhaps the most eloquent writing about the tragedy came in Hamodia’s account of Leiby’s funeral. None of the details of the death were rehearsed here. The writer, again unnamed, also stretched to find universal themes in the tragedy.

Here are some excerpts:

 Sorrow of epic proportions emanated from the crowds in Borough Park on Wednesday night. Tens of thousands of anguished mourners from near and far stood sobbing unrestrainedly, shoulder to shoulder, at the levayeh of Leiby Kletzky, z”l, the 8-year-old boy abducted on Monday and murdered.

Loud sobs erupted from the crowd as the shattered father, Reb Nachman Kletzky, stood in front of the aron and stoically thanked Hashem for the few precious years he and his family were zocheh to share with his beloved son.

The massive levayeh, attended by Jews and non-Jews of all backgrounds, exhibited both the indomitable achdus of Klal Yisrael and the common threat of all humanity. Litvish, Chassidish, and Sefardi Jews of all religious levels, as well as every ethnicity and age group, were represented by those who went and cried over the loss of a precious life cut short, and a family left in profound pain.

As I read the restrained Hamodia coverage I thought that there was more involved here than just, as Rabbi Shafran said, protecting the children from the “grisly details.” Hamodia was playing a healing role in the community, much like the mainstream press did in the aftermath of the terrible events of 9/11. Remember back then? The mainstream press refrained from showing certain horrific images, like mangled body parts and people leaping to their death from the towers. The mainstream press also wrote hagiographic tributes to the fallen that made them seem more like heroes and angels than human beings.

In its coverage of the Leiby Kletzky tragedy, Hamodia reminds us that there are times for restraints, limits and self-censorship. Not everything has to be sensationalized. Mainstream journalism can learn something from them.

Danby upsets the Jewish News

(Apologies for the delay in posting)

We can't remember another occasion where, following criticism, the AJN expended an entire page to justify itself.

Seems that Michael Danby's private mailing to thousands of constituents describing how the newspaper was censoring or totally disregarding matters of importance, really got under the editor's skin. We suspect that AJN Watch's publicising those details didn't endear us to them either and probably the reason they unleashed Zeddy's donkey upon us this week.

But seriously, it is about time that they realised that they no longer have total domination and control on information to (and about) the Jewish community .

We now live in a world of blogs, websites and other alternatives. J-Wire seems to be picking up and becoming a more relevant. Galus Australis seems to be gaining importance. The weekly circulation of the Hamodia is growing constantly (despite the hefty $6 cover price) with much of the increase coming from the 'non-Charedi' and, surprisingly, even 'non-frum' sector. (Well maybe not really surprising, seeing that their coverage of news from Israel and the Jewish world is 3 or 4 times more comprehensive than the couple of pages that the AJN cuts and pastes from internet sites. And may we proudly add that this humble blog too, is getting thousands of hits every month (1500 this past week alone).

That a newspaper can upset so many sectors of the community is some 'achievement'. But it shows that there are deep seated problems and issues which require massive surgery and serious changes in the way the owners and management operate.

Not that we expect them to do anything. The Jewish News will continue to be the (tax loss) plaything of one rich Jew after another. And when current owner realises what little genuine respect and honour this little hobby brings him (and even less influence), you can bet on him handing over this loss-making operation to the next 'gevir' - another prosperous developer or merchant - with more dollars than sense - to take his turn riding the AJN merry-go-round.

Though it isn't a total disaster for the current owner Robert Magid. Zeddy Lawrence in his wisdom (and no doubt valuing his job or maybe even hoping for a raise) made sure to include his boss in his list of the "50 most influential Jews in Australia".

Now that's gotta be worth some of the lost big bucks and headaches that come with owning such a enterprise.

Another, rarely mentioned loudly, advantage of owning the paper is of course the clout his has when a mate or relative gets into financial or personal doo-doo. That's when the fearless voice of the community, becomes totally shtum. Shah shtill. We won't go any further about that matter at this stage, but it is special benefit that most do no have

Hamodia recalls Stalin-loving Mapamniks

The Pesach edition of the Hamodia will for many bring back unpleasant memories of the appalling Mapam party. Mapam was created by a marriage of the Hashomer Hatzair and the Poalei Zion groups. In a sad indictment of Israeli voters, despite Mapam being Stalin-devotees, they garnered enough votes in Israel's first election to get 19 of their schlepper comrades well-paid parliamentarian jobs. In fact they became the 2nd largest party in the first Knesset.

HAMODIA

How so many of our ‘am navon vechacham’, who had only recently suffered terribly in the hands of brutal murderers – Hitler and Stalin – could cast their votes for such an execrable rabble is truly beyond our comprehension.

The Mapam’s emotional and ‘heartfelt’ commiseration at the demise of one of history’s worst monsters shows that even before Goldstone we had plenty of disgraceful types in our midst. In addition to their love of Stalin they were also known to be extremist haters of Torah and Torah Jewry. Thankfully over the years they have been flushed down the toilet of history and as one personality was overheard stating that we have been zocheh to witness the fulfillment of “Yemach shemom vezichrom’.

PS: The current edition of Hamodia includes almost half a dozen supplements incorporating a wealth of interesting articles and features. There are heaps of fascinating items - enough to keep all members of the family occupied for hours on end. We highly recommend it as an Oneg Yom Tov treat for all.

And for those who are too young to remember, here's part of their Wikipedia entry which details some of their unlovely views.


Mapam
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mapam (Hebrew: מפ"ם‎, an acronym for Mifleget HaPoalim HaMeuhedet (Hebrew: מפלגת הפועלים המאוחדת‎), lit. United Workers Party, Arabic: حزب العمال الموحد‎, abbreviated 'مبام') was a political party in Israel and is one of the ancestors of the modern-day Meretz party.

History

Mapam was formed by a January 1948 merger of the Hashomer Hatzair Workers Party and Ahdut HaAvoda Poale Zion Movement. The party was originally Marxist-Zionist in its outlook and represented the left-wing Kibbutz Artzi movement. It also took over the Hashomer Hatzair-affiliated newspaper Al HaMishmar.

1950s Mapam May Day meeting.

 Slogan reads '1st of May for Peace and Brotherhood of the Peoples.

In the elections for the first Knesset, Mapam took 19 seats, making it the second largest party after Mapai. As the party did not allow Israeli Arabs to be members at the time, it had also set up an Arab list, the Popular Arab Bloc, to contest the elections (a tactic also used by Mapai, with whom the Democratic List of Nazareth were affiliated). However, the Arab list failed to cross the 1% electoral threshold.

The party's pro-Soviet views did not endear them to Ben-Gurion, and they were not included in the governing coalition. During the session they gained one seat when Eliezer Preminger joined after leaving Maki and then setting up his own party, the Hebrew Communists.

In the 1951 elections the party dropped to 15 seats and again were not included in the coalition. However, they did become the first Zionist party to have an Israeli Arab, Rostam Bastuni, representing them in the Knesset.

From Mapam's point of view, the most important event of the second Knesset were the Prague Trials of 1953, which severely shook the party's faith in the Soviet Union. The show trials in which mostly Jewish leaders of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia were purged, falsely implicated Mapam's envoy in Prague, Mordechai Oren, as part of a Zionist conspiracy. After the Prague Trials and later, Nikita Khrushchev's Secret Speech at the 20th Party Congress in the Soviet Union, Mapam moved away from some of their more radical left wing positions, and towards social democracy.

This created a split in the party. Avraham Berman, Rostam Bastuni and Moshe Sneh left the party and set up the Left Faction, whilst Hannah Lamdan and David Livschitz created Faction independent of Ahdut HaAvoda. Although Bastuni later returned to the party, Berman and Sneh eventually joined Maki and Lamdan and Livschitz joined Mapai. Four other party members left to recreate Ahdut HaAvoda, though the Knesset speaker did not recognise the group as an independent party during the Knesset session. It also displeased the USSR. /SNIP

Time to get the Hamodia to Perth!

From the Jewgle Perth blog:

Jewish Media

It gives me no pleasure in opining that, as much as the Jewish community needs a strong medium of communication, we sadly do not have a paper that is up to the task. Our local Jewish newspaper falls short of filling its role as a newspaper, a chronicle of history, and a medium for exchanging viewpoints. It does not drive topics of discussion or promote an agenda for the community. It does not produce its own news (locally, it waits for news to find them, and elsewhere it just reproduces the news of other publications.) It does not critically or independently investigate communal activity. The paper provides no editorial stance, nor any accountability to the community. It has been exposed by this blog for plagiarism yet failed to even acknowledge that fundamental journalistic ethics were compromised. We have a paper that delievers photos and messages of congratulation to Jews who marry out, carries advertisements for non-kosher establishments, contains articles that misrepresent Jewish values, and completely omits news coverage of a huge amount of activity that takes place in our community on a daily and weekly basis. Unfortunately the Maccabean does not reflect the values, activities or the potential of all that the Perth Jewish community represents.

There are no alternatives to the Maccabean.

As far as the Australian Jewish News is concerned, Perth hardly exists. The AJN is also a paper that does little to foster the distinguishing values that are centrally important to Jewish communal life. Its focus, unlike the Maccabean, is commercial, which, while lowering the level of expectation, does not excuse it from its role of publically representing matters of importance to Australian Jewry.

http://www.jewgleperth.com/?p=1189

Coat (Man) of Many Colours

What an eclectic bunch our friend Moshe the Coat Man has put together.
A Partisan, a Chazan and a couple of rabbis - Kennard and Groner.
And his latest comrade-in-arms, the well-known Gush Katif defender/protester and “Holocaust Survivor and Chossid of the Gerrer Rebbe” – Rabbi Mordechai Raz!.
(Is the Gerrer Rebbe really a “Settler” supporter?)

And all this happening in Mizrachi! (The Lamm Boardroom – no less.)

AJN Watch has other commitments that night, but hopefully we’ll get a full report of this momentous occasion in the AJN and the Hamodia (which carried a full-page version of the same ad).

A keen Hamodia reader in New York

Maybe if the AJN also had such dedicated and ardent readers, it's circulation figures would improve and not require lame excuses.

see http://tinyurl.com/nn9mlp

From Jewgleperth's comment section

In response to the Jewgleperth blog post we copied here:
http://ajnwatch.blogspot.com/2009/07/jewgleperth-talks-about-blogs.html the following comment was made. [Our reply follows]

Melbourne Yid Says:

I must admit that I didn’t have the patience to read this very long blog post. Maybe I am a victim of the internet generation with my short attention span

In any case I must object to you mentioning the AJN Watch blog as a “good example” of a blog “which help to deliver a new style of media for Australian Jews”. This blog is entirely dedicated to bashing the Australian Jewish News and has no other redeeming qualities. While there are many negative things to say about the AJN it is not necessary to invent grievances or to argue with every comment that may hint at something positive about the paper.

That blog is obviously written by the extreme right-wing of Melbourne Orthodoxy who do not recognise the Jewishness of anyone but their own community. Nothing that the AJN can write will pacify them. Saying that they are not above using the Jewish News to publicise their own community.

AJN Watch Says:

Melbourne Yid, let us guess you are an employee of the AJN - moonlighting as a Yid.
After all, no reasonable impartial person would write quite like you.

In any case, maybe due to your short attention span, you have completely missed the reasons behind the creation of AJN Watch. These are stated quite clearly on our masthead:

“AJN Watch observes and comments on prejudice, misrepresentation and monopolistic abuse of power in the pages of the Australian Jewish News - especially regarding the observant community. ….. It is this blog’s mission to spotlight errors, expose misrepresentations and vigorously respond to items that malign or defame the Orthodox community.”

Thus while you may consider this as “bashing”, fair and reasonable people are grateful that for first time in memory this not insignificant sector of Australian Jewry has a voice where it can forcefully respond to the biased and unjust treatment handed out to frum Jews for decades.

Plans to create such a blog have been around for a number of years but have for various reasons been suspended. However, the case of Rabbi Engel was the final straw. First in the way they sensationalised the original story - which forced the police investigation. This was nothing less than pure ‘mesiroh’ - dobbing a fellow Jew it to the authorities. As you, Melbourne Yid may or may not know, halachically and historically the ‘moser’ is/was considered to be the lowest form of humanity in Jewish life - reviled and despised by all.

Following that, they came up with the outrageous front page “Charged” poster. When that happened the entire spectrum of Jewry should have risen up in arms against these hypocrites - who never mentioned anything about the massive scandals involving rich and famous irreligious Jews. But what happened? Besides a few letters to the editor - nothing. Where was Melbourne Yid then? If you did comment about it, we haven’t heard it.

But those behind AJN Watch, did take action and decided that no longer will we sit by passively and allow our community to be smeared and besmirched by Australia’s only national Jewish newspaper. Most of the reaction has been highly positive. But if the defense of observant Jews offends you - we apologize and suggest that you don’t read our blog.

We, on the other hand, hope that the Jewish News- knowing that it is now facing continuous scrutiny (as per that nasty piece in last week’s Shmooze page) - will think twice before denigrating, attacking and offending our community.

By the way, your comment: ” That blog is obviously written by the extreme right-wing of Melbourne Orthodoxy who do not recognise the Jewishness of anyone but their own community…” almost confirms that you are one of the AJN’s anti-frum gang. Slandering hundreds of good Jews - because they won’t take it any more from your beloved newspaper. Shame on you.

In any case, what difference does it make who the bloggers are? Why don’t you try and respond to the charges of prejudice and unfairness - rather than write lies about religious Jews?

As for your comment that “… they are not above using the Jewish News to publicise their own community….” which community are you referring to? Or have you also fabricated that fact?

To our knowledge since the arrival of the Hamodia, “right-wing” organizations have almost stopped using the AJN.

The Jewish News hits back hard!

Well, well, well, who would’ve thunk it? The Jewish News trotting out its heavy artillery to repel AJN Watch. Yes folks, Captain Adam Kamien and his S.S. SHMOOZE have been engaged to avenge the honour of his employer! So critical is this assignment, that Shmooze has reduced its usual piffle about Borat, Bruno and the rest of the dreckerati to focus efforts on abusing, accusing and slurring AJN Watch. And he has done it - in his sneering best.

Poor little Adam complains about the “bottomless trench of desperate boredom” behind “AJN bashing” on the blogosphere. And he kvetches about this blog’s anonymity. What a hypocrite! A quick check will show that all comments on the AJN website are anonymous.

But the REAL chutzpah is that the Shmooze column - which is obviously cobbled together by some underemployed cut-and-paster - in most week’s editions doesn’t disclose who that nebech is. Yep., anonymous! (And quite understandable too. After all, why would any self-respecting journalist want his/her name associated with such drivel?)

But seriously Adam, rather than throwing a childish tantrum, why not attempt to respond to the issues raised by this blog? Several charges and serious grievances have been made against the tabloid that you so smugly defend. Why not address these rather than roll out a Thesaurus-like list of every spiteful word you can think of? It’s time to grow up and learn to write like a mentch. Then, and only then, will AJN Watch consider any ‘challenge’ of yours.

PS. Your comment that AJN Watch is “undignified” was real cute. A real pity that we missed an opportunity to ‘dignify’ ourselves by adopting some of your illustrious prose. Eg, ”…dross that slavers from your keyboards, polluting the blogosphere …”

PPS. Your comment: “If your posters had it their way, Hamodia would be the only rag in town” implies that the AJN is the other ‘rag in town’. Mr Zablud, no doubt, will thank you for the compliment.

And whilst it is not our job to defend the Hamodia (this blog, BTW, has no connections with the publishers), before you try to disparage them you may be interested to learn that the Hamodia outstrips the Jewish News in almost every sphere. Hamodia offers dozens of pages of Israeli, world and Jewish news, well-written and interesting feature articles, women’s and children’s sections - as well as items of local interest. That compares pretty well to the AJN’s 2 or 3 pages of cut-and-and paste material from the Jerusalem Post website and a few media releases supplied to it by local organisations. (If the AJN ever ran an honest poll of its readership it would confirm that the main reason of those who still buy it, are the births, marriages and death notices. (No doubt, if they could introduce divorce notices, circulation figures would rise.) The only other worthwhile reading in that paper is the ‘letters page’ - which is supplied by readers and not by paid staff.

The AJN can only dream of having the kind of readership and influence that the Hamodia has. Here’s some of what Wikipedia has to say:

Hamodia is a Hebrew language daily newspaper, published in Israel. A daily English language edition is also published in the United States and Israel. The U.S. version is the first Haredi Jewish daily newspaper ever published in English in the U.S. It is also the only Orthodox Jewish newspaper published daily in two different country editions.
The weekly edition, in English, is published simultaneously in Jerusalem, London, New York and Melbourne. Recently a French weekly version has been introduced and enjoys a wide circulation both in the French speaking community in Israel and in France itself.

Aussie Echo post

Watch this Blog

I was just made aware of a new blog, AJN Watch, which has been setup to counter the perceived anti-orthodox bias of the Australian Jewish News.
As an observant Jew I must agree that the AJN certainly seems to do its best to highlight any negative issues that the community has and appears to emphasise stories when a frum individual is accused of doing something wrong. Case in point was the disgusting front page in last week's paper of a Rabbi who has been accused of wrongdoing. Despite a one's personal feelings this rabbi has not been tried and found guilty yet. Maybe the Jewish News and others know something we don't but I always thought that one needs to be found guilty by a judge before he is sentenced.
I also find it frustrating that the AJN journalists know very little about the frum community and often have incorrect reports, quotes etc in articles that pertain to us. I put this down to the fact that there do not appear to be any frum journalists (except for Yossi Aron who seems to be confined to one particular area of the paper) and also that the paper does not seem to care about our segment of the community. Until the Jewish News editors and management make a concerted effort to understand the frum section of the community I cannot see this changing.
The solution the writers of the blog propose is to purchase the Hamodia. While I do like this paper it has nothing to do with our local community. I certainly enjoy reading news about frum communities overseas but I would also like to know what is going on in our community. I know that there is a segment of frum Melbourne who care nothing for the less frum but most of us want to know what is happening in the Jewish community. Until there is someone who wants to invest in another newspaper for the Jewish community of Melbourne (or Australia) I cannot see the Hamodia taking the place of the AJN.
If I can offer a defence of the Jewish News (at my peril)...I am sure that we understand that the orthodox community is only a small section of the Melbourne Jewish community. The fact that the overwhelming majority of the journalists are not frum, the owners affiliate strongly with the Liberal/Progressive/Reform (whatever it is being called today) movement and the prevailing culture is extremely secular leads to articles in that paper which have very little Jewish content apart from the fact that they are about Jews or written by Jews. I cannot see this changing.
In any case I am looking forward to reading future posts on this new blog and honestly hope that the owner(s) can encourage a positive change to the Jewish News which will satisfy the majority of the Orthodox community..
=====================

We appreciate Aussies Echo's publicising our new blog but at the same time feel that his comments need to be addressed. So here goes:

Aussie Echo:
The solution the writers of the blog propose is to purchase the Hamodia. While I do like this paper it has nothing to do with our local community. I certainly enjoy reading news about frum communities overseas but I would also like to know what is going on in our community.

AJN Watch:
First of all, the Hamodia welcomes reports submitted by every single frum organization and shul. All they need to do is get someone to write about your organization and it will be published – including photographs. Unlike the AJN which cuts submissions to tiny threads and allows only a few words – if that – to be ‘yotzeh’.

OTOH, do you or any other frum Jew really need to know what is happening at the Temple, Betar, Kadimah, Skif camp or the Mt Scopus debutante ball? Will having this muktzeh machmas mius newspaper add to the Yiras Shamayim or Chasidus of children reading about these topics? Or indeed, letting them see a “Jewish” newspaper advertising chazir-treif and mechalel-Shabbos restaurants? Is this the price you are prepared to pay because you “would also like to know what is going on in our community”?

Aussie Echo continues:
I know that there is a segment of frum Melbourne who care nothing for the less frum but most of us want to know what is happening in the Jewish community.

AJN Watch:
Really? Even if the price for your inquisitiveness is that you and your community be abused and vilified continuously as well as exposing the family to anti-religious and anti-Torah content?
FYI, most of the segment of the frum community who don’t allow the AJN into their homes actually DO care about the less frum – but not at the price of bringing toxic trash into their homes. One can care about less frum people without taking such risks.

AE: Until there is someone who wants to invest in another newspaper for the Jewish community of Melbourne (or Australia) I cannot see the Hamodia taking the place of the AJN.

AJN Watch:
Eh? That is EXACTLY why the Hamodia was established. To be the newspaper of record for the entire frum community. But it needs our support. Otherwise you are automatically increasing the strength of the AJN and it’s chazzir-treif restaurants.

AE: “If I can offer a defence of the Jewish News … The fact that the overwhelming majority of the journalists are not frum, the owners affiliate strongly with the Liberal/Progressive/Reform movement and the prevailing culture is extremely secular leads to articles in that paper which have very little Jewish content apart from the fact that they are about Jews or written by Jews. I cannot see this changing.

AJN Watch:
No, of course it won’t change – unless the frum community asserts its powers. It can be done – but their needs to be a will and leadership of our rabbis and layleaders. At the moment this is sadly lacking.

"Charged"

While most members of the Australian Jewry were appalled and sickened at the sensationalism of the front page of last week’s newspaper, many religious Jews just shrugged their shoulders and stated the obvious: “Nu, what can we expect from our self-hating anti-semitic mamzerim”. After all, this is not the first time that the Jewish News has done all in its power to besmirch and slander the face of frum Jews and if nothing is done about it - neither the last time.

As one prominent rabbi stated: “The Zionists have Antony Loewenstein and we have the Jewish News”. While both are outstanding examples of Jewish self-hatred, the AJN in constantly attacking Loewenstein is also guilty of hypocrisy and duplicity.

For the so-called voice of Australian Jewry to so recklessly and idiotically supply fodder to every Nazi and anti-semitic website in the world is simply sickening - even according to their bottom-scraping standards. Check out the Jew-hater's websites and you'll find most of them gleefully linking and quoting from the Australian Jewish News - helping them confirm their hate-propaganda about Jews and rabbis being swindlers and thieves. If the AJN is aiming to increasing anti-semitism worldwide, it is indeed being very successful.

If Chabad communities all over Australia - as well as the orthodox Synagogues - had any pride or self-respect, they would place a ban on all advertising - communal, business and personal on the AJN both their own and of their constituents - until the accepted minimal standards. It is a colossal Chilul Hashem seeing "Stuermer'-style rabbinical vilification on one page and advertisements placed by religious/Chassidic organizations on another.

The AJN ought to be ashamed of itself, but the orthodox community should not sit back and turn the other cheek.

Welcome to AJN Watch

Welcome to the AJN Watch blog which we hope will develop into an important element in debate and thought for our communities.

There has long been a need felt amongst many Australian Jews for a site where they can vent their anger and exasperation at various objectionable and unworthy aspects of the almost-monopolistic Australian Jewish News. However, besides 'kvetching', very little has been done to bring these complaints to the attention of the broader Jewish – and indeed, non-Jewish - community. (We write “almost-monopolistic” as Baruch Hashem in the past year or so, we have welcomed the arrival of an Australian edition of the international Jewish weekly newspaper the Hamodia, which seems to be making major inroads in this country. We hope to elaborate about the Hamodia phenomenon in some future post.)

The past few years the AJN has published items, which had the Age or the Sydney Morning Herald given it similar treatment, all hell would’ve broken loose amongst our communal organizations (and no doubt the AJN would have moralized and editorialized about the anti-Semitic slant of those newspapers.)

But when the offender is the Australian Jewish News – no matter how appalling, there is an absolute silence from our community leaders (except of course from those associated with the aggrieved party/ies.)

Unlike other Jewish centers of population, where there are multiple media outlets available to the community, here in Australia we are at the absolute mercy of the editor and/or publisher of the AJN, who decides on which personalities they will let fly with the worst possible levels of legally-permissible ‘slander’ and, on the other hand, whose sins and crimes they will close their eyes to. And those that the AJN deserve vilification, there isn’t a shred of concern that in addition to hurting family and friends, they may be tarnishing entire organizations and communities by their portrayal of their alleged prey. It is not of the slightest concern for these purveyors of ‘truth and justice’ that they may be doing untold harm to innocent groups who are there to help and work in the community. No, the AJN doesn’t give a heck. Their style may be labeled as yellow journalism at its worst. Their choice of eye-catching exaggerations, scandal-mongering and sensationalism accompanied by huge headlines to sell more newspapers.

Of course where it is regarding someone close to them, even where a person has been found guilty and even jailed – not a word! (More about that too at some time in the future.)

Establishing the AJN Watch blog has long been under consideration, but has been delayed time and again. However, following last weeks shameful and disgusting treatment of the Rabbi Engel affair we resolved “Lo eit lachashot” – it is not a time to remain silent. (Read our separate post about this.). So here we are and we look forward to your participation.

As mentioned, there is plenty to comment about in the AJN and we hope to bring such material to the attention of our readers.

We invite, nay, urge, everyone to partake in this task and ask that you send us items which we may have overlooked as well as your comments and ideas.

And while we understand that there are plenty of you out there who are quite livid about pieces that newspaper, we ask that all comments be reasoned, and written in polite language. Comments that we feel are of more importance will be ‘upgraded’ into posts – for further responses.

And we request, please bear with us. We are neither experienced writers nor bloggers. We hope to learn on the job. Your advice and input is welcome.