Chasidic tongue unleashed

I started this as a comment in response to Chaim’s post at Life-of-Rubin, but I got too worked up and it got too long, so I’ll just post it here as is:

Chaim- You bring up a great point that needs to be repeated. Crown Heights, a nearby chassidish community, recently experienced a MURDER, several brutal beatings, armed muggings, break ins, tire slashing, in addition to excessive religious profiling and ticketing (even though crown heightsers don't drive like Boro Parkers) etc... What was the community response? A few lame and totally ineffective community council meetings with the local police commissioner and councilmen. It didn't help in the slightest, but it still hasn't crossed anyone's mind to riot!!! To anyone who is trying to defend what happened, I have four words: give me a break.

Second, I'm always surprised that people won't accept that it's possible to be both Jewish and an idiot. History has proven that unfortunately religion, even piety, does not preclude a total lack of common sense or propriety. So why does everyone immediately generalize and turn the mess that a few dozen rowdy youth staged (maybe a few hundred men?) into a stain on world Jewry? Indeed, it was a terrible chilul hashem and it was disheartening to see frum Jews engaging in lawless, violent behavior—something I’d like to think antithetical to my value system. But can anyone really say that violence, civil unrest, and dangerous behavior are characteristic of Chasidim? J-blogs are up in arms everywhere about this, and understandably so, but some reactions are just downright unreasonable. Charlie Hall suggests (in a comment) that there is a growing trend of violence among Chasidim because of a brawl he witnessed last year in Dougies Restaurant. He can’t be serious! Steven Weiss thinks it’s appropriate to equate last night’s riots to the Crown Heights race riots where, let me remind you, a Jew was lynched and an entire community terrorized for over a week! Am I missing something? Even Psychotoddler, who is ever so gentle and respectful and never posts an ill word, vents his frustrating that ‘we jews’ are acting as though the law doesn’t matter. PT- I am as upset and disappointed as you, but why blame all the Jews for the actions of a few? In short, the world is quick enough to group all Jews into the category of "smelly savages" based on the reprehensible acts of a few. With such sentiment coming to us from outside, must we be our own harshest critics?

Finally, as disgusted as I am with the actual events, I am possibly more horrified by some of the filth that is being spewed by some bloggers and many commenters who finally have their day to unleash their spite for Chasidim. (And I’m not talking about the police boards or anyone cited above.) I won’t quote verbatim because I rile at the thought of having to re-read those comments but the gist is:

“Chasidim are different—they talk/dress/look different, they’re insular and backwards, they cheat the government, they drive like maniacs, they have smelly beards and strange peyos, they have no regard for authority, etc… Let's just admit it, WE ARE EMBARESSED OF CHASSIDIM. Ha, they’ve finally shown their true colors, so we can finally say what we thought all along—get those primitive Chassidim as far away as possible from our civilized brand of Judaism.”

I first thought this was a knee-jerk reaction to an embarrassing event, as in, immediate distancing--“don’t know him, don’t like him, have nothing to do with him.” But that’s not the case because disassociation looks very different than hatred. This is a deep-seated resentment towards the group as a whole, and while I’m not surprised that people feel that way because it’s the way of the world, I’m shocked that such outright bigotry would go unchecked. I’m not comparing the two events, but consider the following example. Civilized people don’t talk about the C.H. race riots by making sweeping generalizations and calling all black people chayoth or whatever other derogatory term available. It’s racist and it’s wrong, in all respects. The people involved in that incident acted like brutes, their community leader did nothing to control the violent mob, and David Dinkins failed miserably in his position as mayor by delaying the mobilization of riot police until most of the damage was done. Notice the people I point the finger at are all black and their actions were very much driven by their race. But despite all this, it would be absolutely wrong to lay the blame on being black in general. It’s not just wrong, but small-minded and stupid. I think most people would agree with me here. Again, please take the analogy apart from the actual events—I’m not actually comparing the riots.

My question is, why can’t the same standards apply to our own bretheren? Why is it okay to lump Chasidim all together and call them vile names? I don’t think things will ever be hunky dory between all Jewish groups, but can't we make disagreements less ugly? As stupid as the guy sounded when he told reporters the riots were because “those cops are just giving too many tickets”, that’s how stupid someone sounds when they say “those Chasidim are all just [insert choice word here]”. Just the fact that people are referring to Chasidim as “these people” makes my blood curdle. Think long and hard about the people who usually employ such descriptors, and then decide whether it's wise to call any group of Jews "these people".

I am sure that most Boro Parkers oppose what happened. In fact, the video clips show what look like many more spectators than protesters, so I think it’s possible that many of the people who spilled onto the streets were more interested in getting a peek at the action than making any trouble. The people who are responsible had better fess up and make amends for the chilul hashem they’ve made, but the rest of us should show the many thousands and thousands of peaceful and virtuous Chasidim the courtesy and respect that they deserve.