Monday, August 13, 2007


Any women out there having trouble getting a Shidach? Perhaps you should consider marrying a man like Heshy who has a pre-disposition to being a violent criminal. That’s what a Rebbe in this children’s CD entitled "Saved by Chometz" tells a poor orphan girl to do. She of course does it! And that’s just the beginning.

I received an e-mail from a friend of mine that tells quite a shocking story about what passes for Charedi children’s entertainment. He was given a "children's" CD for his kids to listen to during the three weeks. He and his wife could not believe what they were hearing. Here is how he described it to me:

The gist of the story is, a woman marries a man who has a predisposition to be a criminal. (she knows what she's getting into, but it's the "righteous" thing to do). The husband still has an inkling for his old ways and the wife debates to herself whether to divorce him or not. However, during Pesach the husband does teshuva by being meticulous about chometz.

The husband and wife are poor and on Pesach it's the first time they get meat to eat in a long time. Now here's the kicker...

The wife notices that there is wheat in the chicken pot and fears that the husband will throw the pot at her and literally fears that if she shows her husband the pot he will kill her. However, although the wife fearfully states that she is risking her life, she realizes she must tell her husband, and does so. He is outraged and storms out.

He goes to his Rebbe and asks if the chicken is OK. The Rebbe knows that the chicken is not ok, but refuses to openly Paskin for fear of the wife's life (that the husband will beat her to death). The Rebbe secretly asks his family to give him their chicken to him to give to the man so he won't kill his wife.

The criminal realizes what the Rebbe tried to do for him and goes back to his wife and somewhat apologizes, stating that she is such a great wife because she risked her life bringing the pot to his attention...implying that it was possible that he would have killed her! The wife finally states "It should be Pesach all year round", implying that the domestic violence should stop every day of the year, like it does on Pesach.

And Charedi Rabbanim complain about the values taught even on PBS Kids? This is much worse than anything one would find there. In fact this is much worse than what people would see on just about any children’s oriented programming including typical non PBS cartoon shows. A poor desperate orphan is told to marry a criminal who is so violent that he may end up murdering his wife?!

My friend gave the CD to a local community Mechanech who was equally outraged.

Is this what Kosher Charedi entertainment is all about? I thought all such entertainment was supposed to be little morality tales so that children can learn good midos… or about how to be an Oved HaBorei. Is this a good example of that?

Is this the kind Chinuch we want for our children? How in Heaven’s name did something like this ever get made and distributed? Who thought this was good a idea? And why haven’t I heard any other complaints about it? Am I the only one besides my friend and a Mechanech in his community that was outraged by this? I think it is important to note that the music label that produced this miserable excuse for children’s entertainment is Aderet, the label owned by Mordechai Ben David. That’s right... the very same MBD who just canceled a concert in Israel because the Gerrer Rebbe, of whom he is a Chasid, assured concerts. How Frum!

Modified - 8/13/07 PM CDT