Discussion
  • Read More
    secretagentmanTaylor Berman
    4/23/14 4:10pm

    I am seriously shocked by this. Years ago, the first time I went to New York, I got off at the wrong subway stop and was freaking out as I assumed I would be mugged and/or killed any moment (though it was noon). When I went down to street level, I realized I was in a Hasidic neighborhood and was relieved because I thought they were all peaceful, godfearing folks. Does this happen often in that community?

    Reply
    <
    • Read More
      Arctic16secretagentman
      4/23/14 4:12pm

      They are notorious bullies in that area. That's all I'll say on that, though I am curious why that neighborhood felt "safe" to you but, say, Jamaica, Queens or Harlem would not have felt so safe?

      Reply
      <
    • Read More
      Patcher Pupsecretagentman
      4/23/14 4:12pm

      Godfearing? Maybe. Peaceful? Ehhh, not so much.

      Reply
      <
  • Read More
    RedcrustinTaylor Berman
    4/23/14 4:29pm

    Because I'm not Jewish, nor do I live in an area with lots of Jewish folks to socialize me into the appropriate religious taxonomy, I have a simple question: Is "ultra-orthodox" a whole 'nother level of orthodoxy? Does it serve to differentiate between "regular" orthodox and people who only breath kosher air, or something?

    A quick Google search has revealed to me that a not insignificant number of orthodox Jews, who would qualify as "ultra-orthodox," find the term to be a slur, as opposed to Haridim/Charidim/Hassidic: http://forward.com/articles/19320… . Is there any consensus on the matter? Is "ultra-Orthodox" an acceptable way to describe this group, or is it journalistic sensationalism?

    Reply
    <
    • Read More
      TheRealThangRedcrustin
      4/23/14 4:39pm

      ultra-orthodox is actually pretty accurate. True story: one time I was walking through that area on a Saturday and one of them asked me - a complete stranger - if I could come into his house and turn on his light :IN HIS LIVING ROOM: for him because he was forbidden from working and apparently flipping a switch qualifies as working. And of course I helped him out, easiest work I've ever done. Maybe that helps distinguish what you would characterize between ultra and vanilla orthodox, i don't know. But if that's just plain orthodox I don't want to know what Mega-Orthodox would look like. Probably God itself.

      Reply
      <
    • Read More
      GregorMendelRedcrustin
      4/23/14 4:40pm

      They are ultra-orthodox and it's totally cool to say that. When a man will not shake my female hand because of religion (and might even spit on me for wearing a knee length skirt and no sheitel)...Well, call them what you will.

      Reply
      <
  • Read More
    KarenDelaneyWalkerTaylor Berman
    4/23/14 4:00pm

    Moral of the story: Shitty people come in all shapes and sizes.

    I hope Mr. Patterson is on the mend.

    Reply
    <
    • Read More
      ramen2KarenDelaneyWalker
      4/23/14 4:07pm

      What will the white supremacists do now? Do they hate gay black people or Jews more?

      Reply
      <
    • Read More
      KarenDelaneyWalkerramen2
      4/23/14 4:24pm

      Not quite. Now they don't have to do anything. They've successfully convinced those two groups to hate each other. All their efforts have paid off. Now, they can just sit back and watch everyone else turn on each other.

      Reply
      <
  • Read More
    COULDWESTAYRIGHTHERE2Taylor Berman
    4/23/14 4:08pm

    Whilst he was recovering in hospital, his attackers proceeded to bulldoze his home.

    Reply
    <
    • Read More
      A House In VirginiaCOULDWESTAYRIGHTHERE2
      4/23/14 4:17pm

      ^THIS.

      After getting the riot act read for not handling race on Gawker properly, I've been quietly perusing the responses here for an education on how to be veiled and snarky, re: touchy subjects like race and religion.

      YOU WIN.

      Reply
      <
    • Read More
      Syphilitic Scalia SaysCOULDWESTAYRIGHTHERE2
      4/23/14 4:29pm

      Holy shit I laughed so hard I'm having a coughing fit. This is fucking great.

      Reply
      <
  • Read More
    toothpetardTaylor Berman
    4/23/14 3:59pm

    I simply can't believe that adherents of one of the great and peaceful abrahamic faiths would resort to violence.

    Reply
    <
    • Read More
      blue-haired_lawyertoothpetard
      4/23/14 4:17pm

      Right. I mean, isn't that kind of the complaint about atheists? How could a person who doesn't believe in god have any sense of morality?

      Reply
      <
    • Read More
      TenorSoundsblue-haired_lawyer
      4/23/14 4:22pm

      Basic human empathy doesn't exist without God. Fact.

      Reply
      <
  • Read More
    urtalkingshitTaylor Berman
    4/23/14 3:59pm

    So can we acknowledge this group to be the cult they truly are now?

    Reply
    <
    • Read More
      benjaminalloverurtalkingshit
      4/23/14 4:11pm

      I was about to counter that hate crime doesn't equal dangerous cult but then, would that really be such a bad thing, disbanding all groups when their members commit a hate-crime? It's like, either there's something inherently hateful in what you're doing, or you just keep attracting violent idiots, so either way, you're done.

      Reply
      <
    • Read More
      urtalkingshitbenjaminallover
      4/23/14 4:18pm

      Maybe cult isn't the most accurate term, but with the way this group in Williamsburg tries to run that area like the mafia, there's something really wrong. This isn't about religion anymore, it's about total xenophobia. They have tried to rule that whole area in so many ways - beating up outsiders, attacking and intimidating cyclists, intimidating witnesses in molestation cases against their members, they even tried to get the police to ban women from wearing revealing clothes on the streets in their neighborhood.

      Reply
      <
  • Read More
    bishheartTaylor Berman
    4/23/14 4:47pm

    Not to split hairs or anything, but "Ultra-Orthodox Jews" is not necessarily equivalent to "Hasidic Jews". Hasidic Jews could be described as ultra-orthodox, but not all ultra-orthodox Jews are Hasidic.

    My dentist would describe himself as ultra-orthodox, but he would get angry if you suggested he was Hasidic. Also, I think "ultra-orthodox" is not a term that is appreciated by those in the community, but my dentist didn't seem to mind its use, so who knows.

    Reply
    <
    • Read More
      CLbishheart
      4/23/14 4:58pm

      thanks for not splitting hairs

      Or anything

      Reply
      <
    • Read More
      Hey Chief Benderbishheart
      4/23/14 5:00pm

      Dudes beat another human severely, because they convinced themselves, en masse, that is what their religion would want them to do (simply because of whom he loves.) You really want to question the level of their orthodoxy?

      Reply
      <
  • Read More
    etfpTaylor Berman
    4/23/14 3:59pm

    Ugh. This doesn't fit into my Knockout Game bias. I'll ignore it and post pictures of a white person that was murdered by a non-white person.

    Reply
    <
    • Read More
      Malforusetfp
      4/23/14 4:01pm

      I just sent this over to the guy who tried to convince me the knock out game was real. Not malicious but I am curious to hear his opinion.

      Reply
      <
    • Read More
      etfpMalforus
      4/23/14 4:03pm

      Oh you gotta post those screencaps.

      Reply
      <
  • Read More
    Syphilitic Scalia SaysTaylor Berman
    4/23/14 4:38pm

    "Aharon Hollender, 28, Abraham Winkler, 39, Mayer Herskovic, 21, and Joseph Fried, 25, were charged with gang assault and other counts, but not with any hate crimes, sources said Wednesday.

    The main instigator kicked him in the face, yelling "stay down, f——t, stay the f—- down," as others cheered, Patterson recalled."

    So I thought that the use of the term "faggot" (or any racial term) during the crime was the main criteria for a crime to become a hate crime. Is that not true?

    Reply
    <
    • Read More
      MegSwanTaylor Berman
      4/23/14 7:57pm

      Shomrim are notoriously known as a bunch of thugs. They are not representative of Orthodoxy. It's a shonda fur die goyim. As a Jewish person, it's very upsetting to see. Also upsetting is the vitriol and offensiveness of the comments regarding Jews in basically every gawker post. I cringe any time I see a post about Jews on gawker because I know what's coming in the comments and it's fucked up, you shitty bigots.

      Reply
      <
      • Read More
        John BoehnerMegSwan
        4/23/14 11:53pm

        I'm sorry- These few awful men don't represent your identity, and I hope you know that we know that. I think it's bad enough being a Catholic here, but then BOOM! I see how the Jewish community gets treated and I don't see how Jewish people could just get through it and roll their eyes and laugh it off.

        (And though I am Catholic, I am the strange breed of German Catholic, so I feel a certain kind of flame grow in me when I hear Yiddish).

        Reply
        <
      • Read More
        bumdummMegSwan
        4/24/14 6:10am

        lol. try being muslim in this day in age.

        Reply
        <