Things I Hate to Read About

When God revealed Himself to us at Har Sinai and gave us His Torah, it was supposed to lead to a better, more rational world. We were to be released from all the crazy nonsense that dominated religious thinking at that time. Demons? Ghosts? Spirits? An anti-god? All nonsense. Shema Yisrael, there is only one God. Accept no substitutes.

And yet it seems every so often there's someone who's missed that part of the program:

According to the indictment, "During the months of February and March, the accused and her children moved to her mother's apartment in Jerusalem. During this period, the mother found it difficult to cope with the burden of raising her small children, and particularly with their education.

"The defendant turned to a rabbi and asked for his advice in terms of his children's education. The rabbi concluded that the children were 'possessed' with evil spirits and advised the defendant and other suspects to carry out 'tikkunim' on the children in order to help them get rid of those demons."

The indictment went on to say that the rabbi instructed the mother to conduct "tikkunim" on the children – "meaning, jolting, beating, tying, burning organs, feeding them with faeces, and more.

Exactly where in Shulchan Aruch are these instructions, pray tell? I shook with disgust when I read about the damage a supposedly religious mother inflicted on her children at the advice of a supposed rabbi. When this stuff happens, is it any wonder non-religious Jews turn away and announce tht they want no part of our Torah or heritage?

The scariest part is that if this rabbi were to show up in any Chareidi shul he'd probably get an aliyah if he asked for one. And the guy next to him with the knitted kippah? He'd get the cold shoulder because he's "not religious enough".