Constructive Criticism

I have never been a reader or fan of the frum magazines. I read them in the waiting rooms of Doctors, mechanics, etc.. when there was nothing better. I certainly would not waste money buying them.

Recently, I made an exception with Ami . I found it to be the first periodical of this genre that is interesting and written for people with more than a 4th grade education. However, I take strong exception and must vehemently protest an article in the most recent edition. Since, they tenaciously refuse to acknowledge the 21st century and provide a website, I have included the article I am critiquing.

Constructive criticism is desperately and crucially needed in our community. If we resent the attention we receive and treatment we get in the secular media, the simple solution is to stop providing so much material on an almost daily basis.

The author contends that requests to refrain from referring to Charedim as ’ultra orthodox’ have “fell on deaf ears”. With all due respect to Rabbi Katz, author of the article, the media is getting a very mixed message. If a bunch of ’native americans’, were to wear feathered headbands, war-painted faces, loinclothes, replete with tomahawks, and run around manhattan scalping people, I feel its justified for the media to call them Indians. Similarly, the New Square story is EXTREMIST, the posters about ladies talking on cellphones is EXTREMIST, the Hillary Clinton story is EXTREMIST. Shall I continue.

I am not so naïve, as to think that many writers and reporters discussed in this article, arent motivated by anti-Semitism and anti-religious sentiment. However, for the most part , they are just holding up a mirror.

I must protest at the obviously slanted yellow journalism, where Rabbi Katz cites Shalomit Aloni and other vile chiloni leftists of ten to fifteen years ago, and groups them together with the Washington County Observer. The former is an old story of Israeli politics, whereas the latter didn’t actively seek out to attack charedim. A photo in their newspaper was stolen and distorted without permission..

Rule 7 “The use of sarcasm provides cover and camofllage for out and out hateful observations“….. . Do you mean like
“ but far be it from a Charedi writer to correct the grammar or spelling of genuine journalist from the Forward”.

Far be it for me to correct the grammar of the esteemed ami magazine, but FTR, its ‘for a Charedi writer’, not from a Charedi writer..

If we are all so thin skinned that we cant take criticism, then, a) if you cant stand the heat get out of the kitchen, b) stop providing the secular media with so much ammunition