Further Adventures in Misinformation

When the facts got in the good Rebitzen's way she proceeded into name calling with the following effort:

Your comment was that you didn't know of more than one BT couple married in the past century. Would you like me to quote your blog for you? "In fact, I can only recall one getting married in St. Louis this century!" I named a few, I can name more. You want me to keep going? I thought I had made my point. And "since the house", even if it was true, what would that have to do with anything? Someone gave them a house that has sat empty (for lack of a salary to pay someone to live in it) and therefore they stopped setting people up? I don't get what A***** being a convert has to do with anything. She converted a few years ago, came back to St. Louis and got married to a guy she was set up with here. Your entire point is that no one is making any effort to marry singles off and that's simply not true. If you mean "she was off-limits before she converted", well, yeah. That's halacha. Sorry. Speed dating in St. Louis died a natural death, btw. You can only run a program with the same people showing up over and over before people stop showing up. Which is what happened. Could they have done a better job of recruiting new people to come? Maybe. But getting people to ANY program - Reform, Conservative, Orthodox, Married, Single - in St. Louis is a major challenge. Aish certainly hasn't cornered the market on that. As to G****** L*** leaving, you are mistaken. The issue was funding. I also have problems with the "revolving door" of rabbis here at Aish, but the problem is not conflict with E*****. I certainly don't agree with him on everything, nor does my husband but that's not why people leave. They leave b/c someone in their infinite wisdom has decided they will give 2 years worth of salary (and it's not a big one, trust me - I've lived off it) and after that time they guy has to raise their own salary. Most of them can't do it. The the same source will turn around and give 2 years worth of salary to yet another "korban", but will not continue funding the original guy. I think it's stupid to keep bring new rabbis here and unrealistic to expect someone to be able to raise their own salary after 2 years, but aish feels they have nothing to lose by taking advantage of the deal - and hence the revolving door. As to E*****, I'm not sure what you have against his real estate dealings. He draws no salary from aish (he might on paper, but trust me, it's been years since he got paid) and he has to support his family. So he deals in real estate on the side (not very successfully lately, I might add, as the market has really gone sour here). That's a problem? In your world if they draw a salary from aish, they're a leach and if they don't draw a salary, they are...? What? Self-supporting for one. And give the guy a break - his family has been practically destroyed, he's got 2 kids with brain injuries from the accident, he works three jobs. That is where I think the slander is really beneath you. So "J**", I'm really not sure what you are trying to accomplish. I agree with you that I think that the direction of programming of Aish St. Louis is targeting the wrong demographic. But I think your blog doesn't nothing to change that and just seems to be a personal vendetta. Not to mention that it is filled with inaccuracies and slander. Don't be a schmuck. C**** W*****

To which this schmuck responded:

This centruy meaning 2000 on up. No, I can't think of two Jews who met at Aish since the house was acquired who got married, nor did you name one. I can only think of one possibility since 2000, and I'm not sure, but I'm giving it the benefit of the doubt, because I don't know for sure that it doesn't qualify. The house has sat vacant for two years, but according to you the salary was there to pay a new rabbi, just not the one who had been there. My issue with the converting is very simple really. Outreach, as I understand it, is supposed to be geared to other Jews. If others want to join, that's great, but it's not encouraged. Therefore, the target demographic that I would think would concern Aish would be Jews looking to explore their roots, not potential converts. Further, to dismiss the off-limits issue as just being halacha might play better in Brooklyn than at Aish. Here, in the real world, when people just shrug and say that's halacha, people accept it as such, but then shouldn't be shocked when a strict interpretation of that halacha, coupled with a lack of outreach to bring in eligible to marry Jews, leads to intermarriage. You're right, most of the rabbis can't secure their own funding. Implicit in that is that some can, and one did. The tragedy to the Aish family is indeed wrenching. But before it happened, several people tried to alert Aish's central offices as to what was happening, or was not happening, in St. Louis, to no avail. Not one single guy I went to classes with at Aish is dating a Jewish woman. And most guys who are committed enough to go to classes would marry Jewish if that were feasible. In closing I have nothing personal against any Aish rabbis. If I were vengeful I might resent the outreach rabbi who is charged with helping Jews grow but doesn't do any outreach to speak of and then voices outrage when people interdate by saying that they will burn in hell and not be buried in a Jewish cemetary. That said, you'd better believe I resent the situation he has created.