Chaim Walder: Busting Some Myths

  1. CW is not a rabbi.  And I don’t mean someone defrocks him retroactively. I mean he simply never was one. He called himself rabbi, apparently the prerogative of Charedi journalists everywhere (and “Headlines in Halacha” hilariously took him at his word, in a badly misnamed episode titled “Rabbis at Risk“). It’s like the Gimmel party papers saying “MK Rabbi Moshe Gafni summoned MK Aryeh Deri”, and the Shas party papers saying “MK Rabbi Aryeh Deri met with MK Moshe Gafni” (referring to the same event). Does anyone think they got semicha?! [UPDATE: Those two are bad examples of my point.]
  2. The family. If they weren’t alive and about, there would be all sorts of speculation. Since no one likes getting slapped with a libel suit, however, and the principal is out of the picture, they are being completely ignored, at least for now. But it isn’t right to then use that silence to make the spurious claim not buying CW’s books unjustly harms his innocent heirs! How can I know that?
  3. CW ended his own life. And now he’s dead. And we know what happened here. What all that has to do with the spy Jeffrey Epstein I haven’t a clue. (In case this is too opaque, I mean I distrust the official story about JE’s suicide.)
  4. CW had enemies? Hardly. Rabbi Tzvi Tau could only point to Supreemie Injustice Aaron Barak — no visible connection to anything relevant.
  5. In Israel, anyone can legally call themselves “Coach”, “Therapist”, Counselor”, etc. There is no oversight either private or governmental.
  6. “CW took a lie detecter test and passed”. If true, he was a good liar. Bravo! But who said this ever happened? CW’s own paid lawyers?! Sue me, but I don’t trust lawyers on retainer. Besides, the effectiveness and reliability of such tests depend on the skill of the expert administering the test, anyway. Who was that?

But… to replenish mythology, let’s create a nice, new myth: Maybe some of his many published books were ghostwritten, ah?

Which ones, you ask? That’s easy; the ones you liked weren’t his.

(Me, I liked parts of dizzying Oleh\Yored\Oleh\Yored “That’s Me, Tzviki Green“.)

Post Script:

So-called “myth-busting” is usually based on alternative myths.

Or pretending to misunderstand the claim in the first place, like wasting people’s time with obvious science written in annoying jargon, such as patronizingly “explaining” yawns weren’t actually contagious. Ha! As though anyone, ANY-ONE, had ever thought invisible contagions were involved, then ending with a whimper, by admitting that, yes, when one person yawns others often do the same soon afterward… Thanks, Captain Obvious!

RIBIS ALERT

For those who were unaware, the government has a forced savings program for new children, the children of Olim, Returning Residents, etc. One may, however, select which savings program, for the “Heter Iska” option (for the first 180 days).

Boodism in Megillas Esther?

I read a wacky theory saying “Krishna” yemach shemo is the first advisor for Achashverosh.
Esther 1:14:
וַיֹּאמֶר הַמֶּלֶךְ לַחֲכָמִים יֹדְעֵי הָעִתִּים כִּי כֵן דְּבַר הַמֶּלֶךְ לִפְנֵי כָּל יֹדְעֵי דָּת וָדִין. וְהַקָּרֹב אֵלָיו כַּרְשְׁנָא שֵׁתָר אַדְמָתָא תַרְשִׁישׁ מֶרֶס מַרְסְנָא מְמוּכָן שִׁבְעַת שָׂרֵי פָּרַס וּמָדַי רֹאֵי פְּנֵי הַמֶּלֶךְ הַיּשְׁבִים רִאשֹׁנָה בַּמַּלְכוּת.  כְּדָת מַה לַּעֲשׂוֹת…
What do I know?
But even if true, this would not make Judaism syncretistic.
Rabbi Hirsch says the reason for mentioning historical figures in the Torah (like Chanoch\Hermes) is to debunk their Avoda Zara origin stories (like Euhemerus).