(Sorry I couldn't post earlier)
10. Use the State of Emergency designation to take a day off from work even though you have power, cable, heat and working hot water
9. The neighborhood kids use your basement for a block pool party. Everyone pools their defrosted meats for a grilling good time
8. Drink more tea or coffee than any normal human can handle. Why should you waste all that perfectly good boiling hot water?
7. Troll the local stores for water, ice and flashlights. Then sit and stew while your facebook friends discuss all the popular shows and you can't watch them
6. Wonder how PSEG decides who gets their power back first
5. Hang out with neighbors you usually avoid. Reminisce about past catastrophes like old friends. Make false promises to hang out in the near future
4. Earn your stripes as an amateur photographer taking pictures of the destruction of houses, fallen trees and crushed cars while the owners of the houses, trees and cars look on in defeat
3. Watch in amazement as tree after tree gets run through the wood chipper while listening to Rush - The Trees
2. Take up Teaneck Kosher Corner Grocery, located on the corner of Teaneck Rd. and Forest, up on their gracious offer for a free dinner because your house, apartment or coop is blacked out. Sweet deal!
1. Continuously check your Blackberry, iPhone, Palm, Android device or internet enabled phone for new postings or comments on macdmusings.blogspot.com. Whether you like me or hate me, thank you for your loyalty and readership.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Monday, March 15, 2010
Power Out(r)age
I hope everyone in Bergen County is well, families are safe and everyone gets their power, clean water and cable back very soon. I want my MTV!
I am blessed that I have been given the opportunity to author this blog. There are elements in Teaneck that act and operate as if they are beyond reproach. Etz Chaim of Teaneck and Rabbi Daniel Feldman are two of those elements. Etz Chaim because they are a religious Jewish Institution being repressed and discrminated against by the evil Board of Adjustments. Rabbi Feldman because he is a public figure, a local and internationally known celebrity (one website even called him a Rosh Yeshiva at YU), a learned scholarly Rabbi with Yadin Yadin Yoreh Yoreh semikha from REITS and he writes books about ethics.
That is why this blog is so important. The pedigree should not matter. They are acting unethically and outside of the boundaries of decency and the law. This blog, macdmusings, is the only venue that is critiquing them for their actions. This is where their opponents and victims have a voice.
During the storm I checked the comments that needed moderation. There was a single comment and it was by the same negative commenter as usual. Instead of trying to guess who I am or lauding my efforts or inviting me to a Kiddush in my honor or calling me McDick or commenting on my genitalia, this time I was issued an ultimatum.
Dear Schluff: please take this as a warning, I know who you are and I am asking you nicely to stop your musings and tweeting and all of your other garbage for good. I am not really concerned sbout EC but your defaming Rabbi Feldman is going on for too long. Grow up amd move on. stop brooding about what you had at the Center. Shut it down in 48 hours or I will expose you and you will be fair game for legal action. (The sentence that was here was removed to protect the innocent person that the commenter believes is Shluffenheimer MacDougal) Again shut it down or I will tell them who you are, please stop already. grow up and move on in life. shalom
Rabbi Daniel Feldman has taken a public position in the Teaneck community. He is well known around the world and commands a nice salary to visit communities and speak. He is a public figure and public figures are held to a higher standard than you and me. He has not been defamed, he has been critiqued and criticized using pure fact or opinions based on the truth as reported by newspapers. Sometimes the critiques are based on Rabbi Feldman's own words, books or newspaper articles quoting him.
Under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, as set forth by the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1964 Case, New York Times v Sullivan, where a public figure attempts to bring an action for defamation, the public figure must prove an additional element: That the statement was made with "actual malice". In translation, that means that the person making the statement knew that they were making the statement with reckless disregard as to its truth.
The concept of the "public figure" is broader than celebrities and politicians. A person can become an "involuntary public figure" as the result of publicity even though that person did not want or invite the public attention. For example, people accused of high profile crimes may be unable to pursue actions for defamation even after their innocence is established, on the basis that the notoriety associated with the case and the accusations against them turned them into involuntary public figures.
A person can also become a "limited public figure" by engaging in actions which generate publicity within a narrow area of interest. Jokes can be made at their expense based on their actions. Like I have made here about Mr. President Robert Erlich's newspaper quotes and transcript and reported actions from the BOA hearing.
For more about defamation click here.
So here is what is going to happen.
You will tell Etz Chaim, President Erlich, Rabbi Feldman or whomever, who you think I am. They will serve the poor guy/gal and attempt to take him/her to court. Rabbi Feldman and/or Robert Erlich lose their case because they blamed an innocent person and they will point the finger at you as their informant and if they don't, I will. You will lose house and home when your victim sues you for everything you have and more. YOUR good name will be destroyed and I get the feeling your professional standing will be harmed, too.
All of this because you want to protect someone who doesn't care about you, leaves you scrambling for a minyan every Sunday because his Congregants don't show up to CareOne and his cronies who continue to badger your friends that don't toe the Etz Chaim party line or buy into the propoganda. Please stop fooling yourself. This is not your battle.
If you feel the need to be in touch with me, email me directly at macdmusings@hush.com
Please feel free to continue to comment and participate in the blog. I look forward to real arguments based on facts to prove me wrong.
Shluffenheimer MacDougal
I am blessed that I have been given the opportunity to author this blog. There are elements in Teaneck that act and operate as if they are beyond reproach. Etz Chaim of Teaneck and Rabbi Daniel Feldman are two of those elements. Etz Chaim because they are a religious Jewish Institution being repressed and discrminated against by the evil Board of Adjustments. Rabbi Feldman because he is a public figure, a local and internationally known celebrity (one website even called him a Rosh Yeshiva at YU), a learned scholarly Rabbi with Yadin Yadin Yoreh Yoreh semikha from REITS and he writes books about ethics.
That is why this blog is so important. The pedigree should not matter. They are acting unethically and outside of the boundaries of decency and the law. This blog, macdmusings, is the only venue that is critiquing them for their actions. This is where their opponents and victims have a voice.
During the storm I checked the comments that needed moderation. There was a single comment and it was by the same negative commenter as usual. Instead of trying to guess who I am or lauding my efforts or inviting me to a Kiddush in my honor or calling me McDick or commenting on my genitalia, this time I was issued an ultimatum.
Dear Schluff: please take this as a warning, I know who you are and I am asking you nicely to stop your musings and tweeting and all of your other garbage for good. I am not really concerned sbout EC but your defaming Rabbi Feldman is going on for too long. Grow up amd move on. stop brooding about what you had at the Center. Shut it down in 48 hours or I will expose you and you will be fair game for legal action. (The sentence that was here was removed to protect the innocent person that the commenter believes is Shluffenheimer MacDougal) Again shut it down or I will tell them who you are, please stop already. grow up and move on in life. shalom
Rabbi Daniel Feldman has taken a public position in the Teaneck community. He is well known around the world and commands a nice salary to visit communities and speak. He is a public figure and public figures are held to a higher standard than you and me. He has not been defamed, he has been critiqued and criticized using pure fact or opinions based on the truth as reported by newspapers. Sometimes the critiques are based on Rabbi Feldman's own words, books or newspaper articles quoting him.
Under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, as set forth by the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1964 Case, New York Times v Sullivan, where a public figure attempts to bring an action for defamation, the public figure must prove an additional element: That the statement was made with "actual malice". In translation, that means that the person making the statement knew that they were making the statement with reckless disregard as to its truth.
The concept of the "public figure" is broader than celebrities and politicians. A person can become an "involuntary public figure" as the result of publicity even though that person did not want or invite the public attention. For example, people accused of high profile crimes may be unable to pursue actions for defamation even after their innocence is established, on the basis that the notoriety associated with the case and the accusations against them turned them into involuntary public figures.
A person can also become a "limited public figure" by engaging in actions which generate publicity within a narrow area of interest. Jokes can be made at their expense based on their actions. Like I have made here about Mr. President Robert Erlich's newspaper quotes and transcript and reported actions from the BOA hearing.
For more about defamation click here.
So here is what is going to happen.
You will tell Etz Chaim, President Erlich, Rabbi Feldman or whomever, who you think I am. They will serve the poor guy/gal and attempt to take him/her to court. Rabbi Feldman and/or Robert Erlich lose their case because they blamed an innocent person and they will point the finger at you as their informant and if they don't, I will. You will lose house and home when your victim sues you for everything you have and more. YOUR good name will be destroyed and I get the feeling your professional standing will be harmed, too.
All of this because you want to protect someone who doesn't care about you, leaves you scrambling for a minyan every Sunday because his Congregants don't show up to CareOne and his cronies who continue to badger your friends that don't toe the Etz Chaim party line or buy into the propoganda. Please stop fooling yourself. This is not your battle.
If you feel the need to be in touch with me, email me directly at macdmusings@hush.com
Please feel free to continue to comment and participate in the blog. I look forward to real arguments based on facts to prove me wrong.
Shluffenheimer MacDougal
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Pet Peeves
My three biggest pet peeves based on current happenings in Teaneck are
1. Super Padded School Board Budgets:
The Schools need money to operate, but their priorities are in the wrong areas. A strong school system is needed to make Teaneck desirable for anyone to move in. Everyone gains when your town is known for having good schools. The School Board needs to be more frugal in certain areas of spending.
2. Politicians Playing the Anti-Semitism card:
Politicians should have opinions, stances and platforms. Hopefully they are strong and powerful enough to sway voters to choose to vote for them instead of the other candidates. There are Politicians who want Teaneck’s citizens to vote for them solely based on race or religion. Voters need to be better educated to who the candidates are and what their election to the Town Council really means.
3. The “False Entitlement” of Orthodox Jews:
In communities all around the world we are seeing a rise in Orthodox Jews, laymen, Rabbis and private citizens alike, being caught breaking the law, criminally or civilly to the point where they are causing a chillul Hashem, with no concern for others, Jew and non-Jew alike. You make a choice when you deliberately decide to break the law after carefully weighing all the options. The public must be educated to what those types of people are about. They do not represent Teaneck Jewry and must be called out.
Macdmusings.blogspot.com will be focusing on all three of these pet peeves. Thank you for reading and respectfully commenting on the issues!
Shluffenheimer MacDougal
1. Super Padded School Board Budgets:
The Schools need money to operate, but their priorities are in the wrong areas. A strong school system is needed to make Teaneck desirable for anyone to move in. Everyone gains when your town is known for having good schools. The School Board needs to be more frugal in certain areas of spending.
2. Politicians Playing the Anti-Semitism card:
Politicians should have opinions, stances and platforms. Hopefully they are strong and powerful enough to sway voters to choose to vote for them instead of the other candidates. There are Politicians who want Teaneck’s citizens to vote for them solely based on race or religion. Voters need to be better educated to who the candidates are and what their election to the Town Council really means.
3. The “False Entitlement” of Orthodox Jews:
In communities all around the world we are seeing a rise in Orthodox Jews, laymen, Rabbis and private citizens alike, being caught breaking the law, criminally or civilly to the point where they are causing a chillul Hashem, with no concern for others, Jew and non-Jew alike. You make a choice when you deliberately decide to break the law after carefully weighing all the options. The public must be educated to what those types of people are about. They do not represent Teaneck Jewry and must be called out.
Macdmusings.blogspot.com will be focusing on all three of these pet peeves. Thank you for reading and respectfully commenting on the issues!
Shluffenheimer MacDougal
Friday, March 12, 2010
Etz Chaim Petition Update
This is the latest version of the Etz Chaim of Teaneck Petition. I can understand the feeling of achdus (a closeness) that a Jew feels when they see that a Jewish Institution needs their help, but nothing is as it seems on the surface.
As you read the petition please keep in mind that Etz Chaim's claims are intellectually dishonest and misleading:
1. A few (neighbors) have been going to great lengths to use media and the internet to garner publicity and political support in their opposition to us, in the process painting a false and unfair picture of the history.
The Township of Teaneck’s records have to be kept public and anyone can request to copies of them. Its called a OPRA request (Open Public Records Act). There is a website called 554queenanne.info that has postings of all of the documents and transcripts of the Board of Adjustment meetings. It also contains all the news articles regarding Etz Chaim and 554 Queen Anne Rd.
The website is purely informational and contains all primary sources. If you want the true history of Etz Chaim’s struggles with the Township of Teaneck, warts and all, 554queenanne.info is the first place to go.
2. Despite the misimpression they have tried to convey, our group has been working together with the township of Teaneck from day one, with full transparency and cooperation through every step of the process up to and including the current proceedings.
This statement is false. They have not been transparent with the Township. If Etz Chaim were truly transparent in their intention for usage of the room and creation of a Shul, there would be no need for this petition and the hearings would have little objection, if any, from the neighbors to granting the needed variances.
3. We would like to send a message of support that the community supports the freedoms of religion that this country has afforded us, and that you support the approval of the zoning application of Etz Chaim of Teaneck.
Etz Chaim’s religious freedoms have not been denied. They still meet at 554 Queen Anne Rd for services. No one is stopping them. The issues they are facing stem from their originally applying for a variance that called their sanctuary a family room and not a synagogue.
4. As such, we would appreciate it greatly if you would take this opportunity to show such support, and we would also appreciate your forwarding this email to any others in your communities who may be similarly inclined to show their support. Anyone residing in New Jersey can reply to this email with their name, as well as other residents of their home wishing to show support.
The Board of Beth Aaron (an Orthodox synagogue in Teaneck) had a request to send out the petition to all of it’s members, to show support for Etz Chaim. Beth Aaron’s board voted down the request. The Rabbi of Beth Aaron is a very close friend of Rabbi Daniel Feldman, the Rabbi of Etz Chaim, and the Beth Aaron board contains one of the founding members of, and still majorly affiliated with, Etz Chaim of Teaneck and it still didn’t pass. I am sure other Orthodox Synagogues in Teaneck are also voting it down.
There are tons and tons of stories about schools and Yeshivot operating illegally and ignoring the building codes and zoning laws of their local municipalities. The news stories have become so frequent that it’s becoming the norm, like the stories we read every few days about another Rubashkin or Dwek.
Why can't they follow the rules or are the rules only for goyim (non-Jews)??
From: Etz Chaim News
To:
Sent: Mon, Mar 8, 2010 12:21 pm
Subject: Board of Variance hearing is 1 week away. We need a few more votes. Please help out by just hitting reply.
Our board of variance hearing is just 1 week away.
We need a few more votes.
Please help out by just replying to this email with your name.
Nothing more is needed.
If you could, please check with any family, friends, co-workers to see if they would allow you to add their name in support of this variance.
Thank you.
**************************
We are currently applying for variances necessary to be zoned as a house of worship, a process every shul goes through at some point in its history. While many of our neighbors have been welcoming and supportive, a few have been going to great lengths to use media and the internet to garner publicity and political support in their opposition to us, in the process painting a false and unfair picture of the history. Despite the misimpression they have tried to convey, our group has been working together with the township of Teaneck from day one, with full transparency and cooperation through every step of the process up to and including the current proceedings.
We would like to send a message of support that the community supports the freedoms of religion that this country has afforded us, and that you support the approval of the zoning application of Etz Chaim of Teaneck.
As such, we would appreciate it greatly if you would take this opportunity to show such support, and we would also appreciate your forwarding this email to any others in your communities who may be similarly inclined to show their support. Anyone residing in New Jersey can reply to this email with their name, as well as other residents of their home wishing to show support.
Thank you.
Etz Chaim of Teaneck
As you read the petition please keep in mind that Etz Chaim's claims are intellectually dishonest and misleading:
1. A few (neighbors) have been going to great lengths to use media and the internet to garner publicity and political support in their opposition to us, in the process painting a false and unfair picture of the history.
The Township of Teaneck’s records have to be kept public and anyone can request to copies of them. Its called a OPRA request (Open Public Records Act). There is a website called 554queenanne.info that has postings of all of the documents and transcripts of the Board of Adjustment meetings. It also contains all the news articles regarding Etz Chaim and 554 Queen Anne Rd.
The website is purely informational and contains all primary sources. If you want the true history of Etz Chaim’s struggles with the Township of Teaneck, warts and all, 554queenanne.info is the first place to go.
2. Despite the misimpression they have tried to convey, our group has been working together with the township of Teaneck from day one, with full transparency and cooperation through every step of the process up to and including the current proceedings.
This statement is false. They have not been transparent with the Township. If Etz Chaim were truly transparent in their intention for usage of the room and creation of a Shul, there would be no need for this petition and the hearings would have little objection, if any, from the neighbors to granting the needed variances.
3. We would like to send a message of support that the community supports the freedoms of religion that this country has afforded us, and that you support the approval of the zoning application of Etz Chaim of Teaneck.
Etz Chaim’s religious freedoms have not been denied. They still meet at 554 Queen Anne Rd for services. No one is stopping them. The issues they are facing stem from their originally applying for a variance that called their sanctuary a family room and not a synagogue.
4. As such, we would appreciate it greatly if you would take this opportunity to show such support, and we would also appreciate your forwarding this email to any others in your communities who may be similarly inclined to show their support. Anyone residing in New Jersey can reply to this email with their name, as well as other residents of their home wishing to show support.
The Board of Beth Aaron (an Orthodox synagogue in Teaneck) had a request to send out the petition to all of it’s members, to show support for Etz Chaim. Beth Aaron’s board voted down the request. The Rabbi of Beth Aaron is a very close friend of Rabbi Daniel Feldman, the Rabbi of Etz Chaim, and the Beth Aaron board contains one of the founding members of, and still majorly affiliated with, Etz Chaim of Teaneck and it still didn’t pass. I am sure other Orthodox Synagogues in Teaneck are also voting it down.
There are tons and tons of stories about schools and Yeshivot operating illegally and ignoring the building codes and zoning laws of their local municipalities. The news stories have become so frequent that it’s becoming the norm, like the stories we read every few days about another Rubashkin or Dwek.
Why can't they follow the rules or are the rules only for goyim (non-Jews)??
From: Etz Chaim News
To:
Sent: Mon, Mar 8, 2010 12:21 pm
Subject: Board of Variance hearing is 1 week away. We need a few more votes. Please help out by just hitting reply.
Our board of variance hearing is just 1 week away.
We need a few more votes.
Please help out by just replying to this email with your name.
Nothing more is needed.
If you could, please check with any family, friends, co-workers to see if they would allow you to add their name in support of this variance.
Thank you.
**************************
We are currently applying for variances necessary to be zoned as a house of worship, a process every shul goes through at some point in its history. While many of our neighbors have been welcoming and supportive, a few have been going to great lengths to use media and the internet to garner publicity and political support in their opposition to us, in the process painting a false and unfair picture of the history. Despite the misimpression they have tried to convey, our group has been working together with the township of Teaneck from day one, with full transparency and cooperation through every step of the process up to and including the current proceedings.
We would like to send a message of support that the community supports the freedoms of religion that this country has afforded us, and that you support the approval of the zoning application of Etz Chaim of Teaneck.
As such, we would appreciate it greatly if you would take this opportunity to show such support, and we would also appreciate your forwarding this email to any others in your communities who may be similarly inclined to show their support. Anyone residing in New Jersey can reply to this email with their name, as well as other residents of their home wishing to show support.
Thank you.
Etz Chaim of Teaneck
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Top Ten List: Teaneck Anti-Semitism
Top 10 Reasons for Teaneck’s Jews to Claim They Are Victims of Anti-Semitism
10. Your child can’t get a free swing at the Inclusive Playground at Votee Park because they are all being used
9. A Township Police Officer pulls you over for not stopping for a pedestrian in a crosswalk on Cedar Lane, who is walking to synagogue, 5 minutes before the Sabbath
8. The Kosher signs on the Cedar Lane 7-11 Slurpee machines make you believe that the Teaneck Road's machines are not Kosher
7. Blockbuster is going out of business and they do not have any copies of The Ten Commandments, Yentyl, Ushpizin, Fiddler on the Roof, Exodus or Shindler’s List for 60% off
6. Teaneck's Board of Education pads the budget with extra expenditures because the voters routinely blindly pass the budget and as a result your property taxes go up
5. Every year you need to buy new shoes after doing Tashlich because birds poop all over the grass near the Hackensack River and Overpeck Park
4. You get pulled over for drunk driving on Purim because of racial profiling
3. Mysteriously, the Eruv was down after THE Snow Storm of 2010 and everyone's naively blaming it on the snow
2. Teaneck voters vote for the candidates running for the Council based on their merits and not because they attend synagogue
1. The number 1 top reason to claim anti-Semitism is when you are caught lying in your selfish attempt to bring peace for the greater good of the community, your community.
10. Your child can’t get a free swing at the Inclusive Playground at Votee Park because they are all being used
9. A Township Police Officer pulls you over for not stopping for a pedestrian in a crosswalk on Cedar Lane, who is walking to synagogue, 5 minutes before the Sabbath
8. The Kosher signs on the Cedar Lane 7-11 Slurpee machines make you believe that the Teaneck Road's machines are not Kosher
7. Blockbuster is going out of business and they do not have any copies of The Ten Commandments, Yentyl, Ushpizin, Fiddler on the Roof, Exodus or Shindler’s List for 60% off
6. Teaneck's Board of Education pads the budget with extra expenditures because the voters routinely blindly pass the budget and as a result your property taxes go up
5. Every year you need to buy new shoes after doing Tashlich because birds poop all over the grass near the Hackensack River and Overpeck Park
4. You get pulled over for drunk driving on Purim because of racial profiling
3. Mysteriously, the Eruv was down after THE Snow Storm of 2010 and everyone's naively blaming it on the snow
2. Teaneck voters vote for the candidates running for the Council based on their merits and not because they attend synagogue
1. The number 1 top reason to claim anti-Semitism is when you are caught lying in your selfish attempt to bring peace for the greater good of the community, your community.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Parking Solutions (Part 3)
Mr. President, Robert Erlich, I have thought about your parking issues and I have yet another solution for Etz Chaim of Teaneck.
Jews love to drive to Synagogue for Friday night services. Orthodox Jews can't move their cars all Sabbathlong. When it comes to the Sabbath morning services, stacked parking and baby strollers are a rough mix if they have to share the same space. Where are congregants going to congregate after services if 554 Queen Anne Rd's lot is all parked up? The Orthodox can't walk on the grass, you might tear it up. The entire situation is not conducive to building a community.
Its Saturday morning after services and the weather is beautiful. The parking lot is full and there are a ton of strollers. Where can you hang out and shmooze before you walk home from a scrumptious Saturday afternoon luncheon?
Jews love to drive to Synagogue for Friday night services. Orthodox Jews can't move their cars all Sabbathlong. When it comes to the Sabbath morning services, stacked parking and baby strollers are a rough mix if they have to share the same space. Where are congregants going to congregate after services if 554 Queen Anne Rd's lot is all parked up? The Orthodox can't walk on the grass, you might tear it up. The entire situation is not conducive to building a community.
Its Saturday morning after services and the weather is beautiful. The parking lot is full and there are a ton of strollers. Where can you hang out and shmooze before you walk home from a scrumptious Saturday afternoon luncheon?
You can clear the parking lot of cars, but hiring a valet service to move the cars until the crowd dissipates can be very expensive and Etz Chaim can not afford to hemorrhage any more money or to rely on Betty Grable to allegedly foot the bill. So what can you do that is cost effective and practical?
Your pal, Shluffenheimer MacDougal, has some great concepts to bring up at your next board meeting, assuming you have a board of course. If not, you can just bring it up to Rabbi Feldman after services.
You can train animals to drive a car. Animals are not bound by sabbath rules, so they can't violate the Sabbath. Case in point, Toonces the Driving Cat.
Cats aren't loyal like a dog, but Dogs are more reliable. Better to train a dog to drive the cars.
Be careful not to hire a cat and a dog together. Cats can be very malicious and vengeful.
Its been clinically proven that Elephants are more powerful than cats and dogs, but they aren't better drivers. Elephants are a bad idea.
Stuart Little is already trained but he is too short and won't reach the steering wheel.
Training animals is a risky proposition. After all, it is hard to get animals to follow what you ask of them on demand. An animal can never be fully domesticated. It is better to train the children to drive. They are our future and in a young synagogue there will never be a shortage of children under 3. Etz Chaim will finally have a youth program.
Let's stop talking about problems and let's start talking about solutions!
