Guess who's being a jerk again

I guess Yehuda Levin's ears were burning from my post last week. You know, the one where I said he was a colossal embarrassment and should lock himself in a lead-lined box for a few thousand years so he could stop reflecting badly on all Jews everywhere.

Well guess what? Levin decided people weren't paying enough attention to him. Ergo, today's "Omygodlookatme" outburst.

Rabbi Yehuda Levin, spokesman for the alliance, told CNSNews.com on Thursday that "a great deal has been made about the fact that she would be the second Jewish woman on the court, and we want to signal to people across the country that we take no pride in this.”

Levin said most people are happy when "one of their own" is nominated to such a high position. But, he added, "We feel that Elena Kagan turns traditional Judaism on its head--from a concept of a nation of priests and holy people, she is turning it into, ‘Let’s homosexualize every segment of society. And by the way, partial-birth babies have no right to be delivered.’"

Homosexualize? Really? You're going to verb that one? Fair enough. Please, "Rav," do tell me more about your various "weatherizing" campaigns. Speaking of which, how come you haven't stepped in to save the gulf states from the latest crap-tastophre to afflcit them? Godpleasestopspurtingonus.com doesn't sound any less stupid than godreignoverus.com. Just saying.

Got any other crap? Yes? In bad taste? Yes? Well I'm just shocked.

“It is clear from Ms. Kagan's record on issues such as abortion-on-demand, partial-birth-abortion, the radical homosexual and lesbian agenda, the 'supremacy' of the anti-family panoply over religious liberties of biblical adherents, et. al., that she will function as a flame-throwing radical, hastening society's already steep decline into Sodom and Gomorrah,” the rabbis said in the statement.

See I know Levin thinks he's sounding like a real firebrand here, but here's a tip: if you want to influence public opinion, try not to use adjectives that make your opponents sound cool. Young people are already pro-choice and pro-gay rights. Calling someone a "flame-throwing radical" is not exactly going to turn them off.

Levin told CNSNews.com that his fellow rabbis--and hundreds of thousands of Orthodox and traditional Jews--are puzzled at the president’s choice of Kagan.

“What exactly was Obama thinking, President Obama thinking, when he nominated Kagan? Because eventually, down the road, someone--or some group--is going to ‘take the hit’ for the crazy decisions that Kagan is bound to make. So we would have much preferred if President Obama had given this ‘distinction’ to another minority group, instead of singling out the Jews.”

What, because there's been so much retaliation against Catholics for all of Scalia's bullshit? Take your silly pseudo-Holocaust fearmongering and blow it out your ear.

The best part about all of this is that Levin's association is apparently so significant that the only people that notice when he talks are random far-right blogs that share his agenda.

Edit: Breaking News! For the first time ever, Levin has been spotted... in the company of other (alleged) rabbis! If verified, this could be the an important first step in proving that Levin's organization, the Rabbinical Alliance of America (which even he puts in quote marks), actually consists of people other than Levin himself. Stay tuned...

Interesting parallels

I was reading this entertaining article about local crazy-man Bill Donohue, and a few bits caught my eye:

I say on behalf of reasonable-minded people everywhere (both skeptics and believers), that Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, needs to be reined in before he completely destroys the reputation of the Catholic Church in the United States.

We must quickly make two small points. Bill Donohue is the leader of an organization that by its name (the Catholic League), seems to speak for Catholics. This is hardly the case. After all, the Catholic League self-reports only several hundred thousand members in the U.S., a small fraction of the some 68 million Catholics to be found in this nation. Further, the League is not an official part of the Catholic Church. Unfortunately for the more intelligent Catholics here in the States, Donohue is often the man called by news networks to represent their cause; he has by odd circumstance become their voice. We are not discussing rare or isolated instances in which Mr. Donohue has betrayed his inner ugly character. He consistently speaks for people who have not chosen him and do not finance him, and he does them no justice by presenting his opinions as the consensus view of this nation's Catholic population. It is for this offense, in addition to the content of his unctuous remarks, that I publicly call for his resignation.

I admire Mr. Wilhelm's succinct writing and calm tone in trying to take back his faith from a self-appointed spokesman that nobody asked for. In fact, reading it made me think of another blog I read this morning, about a similar perpetually screeching malcontent.

Rabbi Yehuda Levin, spokesman on family issues for the Rabbinical Alliance of America, representing the views of approximately 850 Orthodox rabbis, issued a statement ahead of the expected full Senate vote.

"Decent Bible-believing family people have been increasingly outraged by the cravenness of many politicians in their mad dash to turn timeless values on their heads, by advancing homosexual adoption, domestic partnerships, civil unions, 'marriage' and 'Heather Has Two Mommies,'" he wrote.

"The next slice of the salami – the koshering of volitional homosexual activity, along with all aspects of the homosexual culture, throughout the U.S. military – constitutes a rebellion against G-d and demoralizes both military and civilian society," he added. "We condemn the inherent antipathy, intolerance and even belligerence toward the essential religious liberties of Bible adherents."

Worthy of Donohue, or what?

And it gets better:

"How queer that politically correct 'equality'-fanatics in the military, who have already recognized the 'religious rights' of Wiccans, would single out traditional Bible-believers to be the object of their zero-tolerance policies," he wrote. "This will render it nigh impossible for Bible adherents to serve in the military."

Levin blasted lawmakers for pushing the legislation forward and urged people of all faiths to refuse to vote for representatives who pander to homosexuals.

"Passage of such evil legislation would expedite our hurtling towards Sodom and Gomorrah," he wrote. "It would also threaten to repel Divine Grace from our military's struggles and beyond. We call upon the Senate to unapologetically filibuster this legislation. We also ask all people of faith to adhere to our previous declaration that it is forbidden to vote for office-seekers who support the homosexual agenda."

Ok, now that we've heard from Captain Blowhard, let's go over Wilhelm's checklist:

A- Demagogue's group name implies a wider audience than they actually have. CHECK.

Levin's group, the Rabbinical Alliance of America, plugs its 850 member number as often as possible (apparently he's also affiliated with Agudas Harabonim, a similarly tiny organization that, unsurprisingly, also claims to speak for all Orthodox Jews in America). For comparison, the Modern Orthodox Rabbinical Council of America has over 1000 members. The Conservative Rabbinical Assembly has over 1500, and the Reform Central Conference of American Rabbis has over 2000. I guess Levin can boast that he has more rabbis under his tent than the Reconstructionists, but big whoop, right?

B- Demagogue runs to any camera or "news" mouthpiece that will have him, more or less acting as an independent agent, not any sort of authorized spokesman. CHECK.

I don't know of anyone that actually claims Levin as their spokesman. Previously he's claimed to be a Gerrer Hasid. Granted, I don't spend lots of time around folks like Yehuda, but I'd be curious to know how many people actually support him in any official capacity. When even people on YWN are wondering who this guy is and saying no one's asking him to represent them, that tells me something. When folks like Dov Hikind put him at arm's length for being too crazy, that tells me something, too.

Mostly Levin's MO seems to grab attention by clutching the coat-tails of anyone else likely to garner media attention. He did it with Pat Buchanan in 1996, he did it with Roy Moore in 2003, hell, apparently anytime Levin sees a controversy, he dives in, whether anyone actually asked him his opinion or not. The specific issue doesn't matter, being a hyperbolic media whore does.

C- Demagogue does significant damage to their co-religionists' image every time they open their mouths. CHECK.

Levin, as various J-bloggers have noted, is a walking Chillul Hashem. Anyone who hears about him or sees his authoritative beard and yarmulke is likely to assume that he speaks for America's Jews, or at least Orthodox Jews. And that seems to be what Levin is counting on. In the meantime, people who aren't the Catholic Church or wacko Evangelicals see Levin confirming their worst instincts or stereotypes about the Orthodox. He is an embarrassment to his community as well as the larger Jewish community of America which he claims to represent.

For the good of all of us, "Rabbi" Levin, please resign. Or at least move to an island with Bill Donohue.

Hat-tip: Dispatches from the Culture Wars.

Time Flies When You're Batshit

I've blogged a bit about Yehuda Levin in the past few months, as have many others round the J-blogosophere from time to time.

But it occurred to me that his name sounded vaguely familiar. So I did some digging. Turns out I was right; I did remember yet another stupid homophobic thing Levin was involved with way back when. And if you thought him being Pat Buchanan's House Jew wasn't bad enough, hold on to your yarmulkes.

Dateline: March 1997. Place: Yehuda Levin's brain, aka Crazy-Town.

Two right-of-center groups of Orthodox rabbis are threatening to boycott the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum as long as the Washington, D.C., institution includes material about gay victims of the Shoah.

In a congressional hearing last week, Rabbi Yehuda Levin, a representative of both groups, urged Congress to withhold the annual $25 million to $30 million in federal funds to the Holocaust museum until it finds "a way to stop elevating the status of homosexuals to Jewish people."

"It's a perversion" to include material about gay victims of the Holocaust, Levin told the House Appropriations Subcommittee on the Interior and Related Agencies. "Do we have a prostitutes' exhibit?"

If Congress does not comply, Levin said, the rabbinical groups plan to issue a religious edict banning visits by its members to the museum.

The boycott threat, however, has sparked reproach from more mainstream Orthodox rabbis nationally and in the Bay Area.

"Any statement by Jewish leaders, particularly rabbinical leaders, calling to not attend a place like the Holocaust museum is inappropriate and inexcusable," said Rabbi Howard Zack of Beth Jacob Congregation in Oakland.

Rabbi Jacob Traub of Congregation Adath Israel in San Francisco warned that the groups' position should not be viewed as indicative of an Orthodox rabbinical consensus.

The stance "paints an unrealistic and unclear picture of the priorities of Orthodox Jewish life," he said.

The Washington museum "remains a recollection of the horrors suffered by all the victims of Nazism," Traub added, including "Jews and gentile, straight and gay, religious Jew and secular Jews."

Issuing the boycott threat were two New York-based groups, the Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the United States and Canada and the Rabbinical Alliance of America, each of which claimed to have more than 600 members.

A local source, however, said the groups have far fewer members and are considered fringe among mainstream Orthodox rabbis, who are mainly affiliated with the New York-based Rabbinical Council of America.

...In a statement issued Monday, the Union of Orthodox Rabbis, said, "We strongly urge people not to visit museums that maintain exhibits glorifying homosexuality.

"We declare that the Torah absolutely prohibits the viewing by anyone, especially children, of such homosexual exhibits that insult and desecrate the memory of the millions of innocent victims of the Holocaust."

Between 10,000 and 15,000 homosexuals were killed by the Nazis.

To compare that number "with 6 million Jews or even Gypsies and others targeted for elimination is an outrage," Levin said in an interview.

Homosexuals "were not rounded up, were not gassed, and many were paramours of guards" at the labor and death camps where they were imprisoned, said Levin, who last year served as honorary chairman of Republican Patrick Buchanan's presidential campaign.

Each year, Levin addresses the anti-abortion protesters who march in Washington on the anniversary of Roe vs. Wade, the Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion.

Levin, who lives in Brooklyn, also ran for mayor of New York City in 1985 on the Right-to-Life ticket, and is considering a run in the city's upcoming Democratic mayoral primary.

He said inclusion in the Holocaust memorials is part of a strategy by a "political homosexual network" to gain mainstream acceptance.

...Rabbi Steven Dworken, executive vice president of the Rabbinical Council of America, which represents more than 1,000 Orthodox rabbis, including Traub and Zack, also took issue with Levin's groups.

"No one has a right to kill someone else and annihilate them no matter what their beliefs are," he said.

According to Orthodox Judaism, homosexuality is "an aberrant lifestyle and cannot be accorded any type of legitimacy," Dworken said. "However, to try to dissuade the U.S. population from learning the lessons of the Holocaust because of this would be a mistake."

Funny thing is, Levin has no trouble whoring the Shoah out for his own pet political causes- be they regarding gay marriage or abortion. So maybe this was somehow poetic justice.

Anyway, it's good to know that time is forever passing, but nutjobs are forever.