This year, throughout the month of September, a group of radical Charedi (ultra-Orthodox) Jews would continuously throw eggs and rocks at girls from the Orot School, a Dati Leumi (Israeli equivalent of Modern Orthodox) girls school for grades K-6 in Beit Shemesh. The school sits around the "border" of two neighborhoods, one Dati Leumi and the other Charedi. It has fueled anger among many Charedim, many of whom do not want a Dati Leumi presence - especially a female one - near their residences. These Charedim feel that the Dati Leumi girls at this school, ages 5-11, dress immodestly. So they throw things at the girls...makes sense, right? (I really hope you sensed the sarcasm in the last sentence.)

Now, inappropriate dress would obviously not be a valid reason for Charedim to throw rocks and eggs at little girls. But here's what makes the story even weirder: the girls do dress according to extremely high standards of Jewish law and sensitivity. They wear sleeves past their elbows, skirts below their knees, and shirts above their collar bone. So why, again, were these Charedim throwing things at the girls? Couldn't be inappropriate dress...

I wouldn't be writing this post if it were not for even more recent events, which occured in the past week. (For a while, it seemed that tensions had cooled down somewhat, but recent events prove otherwise.) Last week, an eight-year-old girl named Na'ama from Beit Shemesh was walking either to or from school (to be honest, I forget which). A Charedi found her clothing to be inappropriate, even though she was presumably keeping to the strict rules of the school, and he spat at her. This man was arrested, and since the event, Na'ama has experienced a serious degree of trauma. Why this Charedi  is worried about eight-year-olds is a great question, probably with a very sad answer.

Also in the last week, a different Charedi male threw a rock at a woman he claimed was dressing immodestly, which got him arrested.

The city of Beit Shemesh, in collaboration with the police, also decided to knock down the hundreds of signs and graffiti on public walls put up by Charedim essentially requiring women to dress modestly, or else... These posts, besides vandalizing public property, create a mob-type law and order system in the streets of Beit Shemesh that goes against the State of Israel's law and ethics. The police and city plan to complete the project of removing the illegal posts in the coming weeks.

All of the above events have spurred huge ongoing Charedi protests against - seemingly - everyone else. The Charedim have thrown rocks at news cameras and police. Why are they so often violent in their protests? Who knows...

With the exception of some Charedim, the entire Israeli populous, both secular and Dati Leumi, seem to understand a basic fact: Discrimination against women and violence against those who we might not fully agree with are not acceptable.

Last night, an enormous gathering of thousands of Israelis from Beit Shemesh and elsewhere stood together in an emotional protest against the horrible acts of these Charedim. My many friends who attended came back with delightful reports and some very nice Facebook statuses, expressing that we will not give up on Beit Shemesh, a city that is for the religious and non-religious alike.

Multiple female Members of Knesset plan to travel tomorrow in the front of the 418, a gender-segregated bus line that runs between Beit Shemesh and Jerusalem. I wish I could be there to experience this amazing act, but unfortunately I will be in classes at yeshiva. My heart will be with these women, who will be publicizing the sexism displayed by the Charedim who force women to the back of buses.

Beit Shemesh is a city that I love. In just four months, I have fallen in love with the spectacular views of mountains, the kind people, and (some of) the restaurants. I will not let Beit Shemesh fall prey to sexists who want to segregate sidewalks and bus lines and force women to dress a certain way.

Newt Gingrich

Newt Gingrich. If you are an American currently residing in the United States, you definitely know who I'm referring to (and if you don't, then all you need to do is read, listen to, or watch ANYTHING in the media or simply leave your house just once).

If you are an American currently studying in yeshiva or residing outside of the US, then I will give you a brief description (almost as brief as Gingrich's quick rise to Republican primary poll leader, where he currently sits)... Newt Gingrich was the Speaker of the House of Representatives some time in the 1990s. For one reason or another, he decided that he would be the best candidate to kick Obama out in 2012 and bring the country back to where it belongs. Just a few months ago, maybe 10 percent (probably less) of Republicans polled said they would vote for Gingrich. Up until the last couple of months, he was practically a no-name when it came to candidates. The big candidates four or five months ago were Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, Herman Cain, and maybe Michelle Bachmann.  But definitely not Newt Gingrich. In fact, up until recent weeks, the first thing that came to mind when I saw the name Newt was "Maybe this is a new nickname for my hometown Newton...?!" I think you get my point.

Everything has changed. Now Gingrich has the lead in the polls for Republican candidates by a LOT, with around 35 percent of the poll (the current runner-up has about 20 percent). Now the Democrats are trying every last possibility to make fun of this guy. Why? Because they're SCARED of him. Just like they were scared of Mitt Romney and therefore started the whole business of Mitt being a hypocrite by criticizing Obama-care. That's why they overplayed the whole Herman Cain sexual abuse fiasco (not that I believe that Cain is innocent or that sexual abuse is okay- I never said either of those things). Democrats have, in their blood, a potentially-successful-Republican-OH-NO monitoring system. When the system beeps, these Democrats have to find a reason, whether bogus or minor, to get this guy off the stage.

So how can Democrats get Gingrich off the stage? Hmm...let's think hard. Maybe they can taunt him for making a historically ACCURATE statement, and consider it as if he embarrassed himself. Oh, man , I think I'm a little late with this idea! The Democrats are so genius that they came up with this one a few weeks before I did!

Let me explain: The entire Democratic party and media went crazy when Gingrich stated in an interview on The Jewish Channel that "we've had an invented Palestinian people, who are in fact Arabs, and were historically part of the Arab community." True statement. Palestinians are a newly invented union, comprising descendants of Arabs who lived in Israel around the time of 1948. According to polls, most "Palestinians" in the West Bank approve of suicide bombs against Israel. Palestine? Never a sovereign state. And if you don't believe me, look at the long list of historical rulers of Israel. Not a single ruler called the "Palestinians."

But, as I said, the Democrats saw the rise of Gingrich, and their monitors began beeping extremely loudly just a few weeks ago. So, when given this opportunity, they lashed out at and mocked Gingrich for this statement, in addition to taking it out of context. (The context was the Palestinians' continued stubbornness and inability to negotiate with Israel, NOT their nonexistence.) All the liberal media went crazy, and the Democrats (and even Mitt Romney, who used this quote as an example of how he, unlike Gingrich, will have a reasonable foreign policy record as president) attacked Gingrich. By the way, this marked the end of my support for Romney. I like Gingrich's honesty and sharp, hard-lined stances against evil a lot more than I like Romney's self-proclaimed "reasonable" politics.

Newt Gingrich is very reminiscent of Ronald Reagan. They both speak the truth, they both take very hard and necessary positions on unions and other economy-destroyers, and Democrats hate them both because of their sharpness and success. Root for Newt!

Patriots

All you haaaters can suck it. The Patriots, with the all time-worst defense, are still 10-3. Lovin' it........

I love Shmuley

Shmuley Reece is the coolest madrich ever. I love him. David is obsessed with him. Shabbat Shalom peopleeeeeee!

Johnny Damon -MYOB

Former Red Sox centerfielder Johnny "Traitor" Damon... After the 2005 season (just a year after reversing the curse with a World Series win), he picks four years and $52 million with the Evil Empire over four years and $40 million with the Fenway Faithful.

Apparently, that's not enough. Johnny Damon has to irritate Boston more. How so? Some background: In one of the most tense times for the Red Sox in decades, Red Sox DH David "Big Papi" Ortiz is annoyed--and rightfully so. He made a brief, vague comment, a couple weeks after the most horrible ending of a season ever, about how he would enjoy the possibility of playing for the Yankees. This five-word coment put the media in a frenzy. Well, who knows where Big Papi wants to play next year? I certainly don't. The Yankees don't. And as much as the media thinks they know anything and everything about professional athletes, they don't know either.

Apparently, however, Johnny Damon knows where Papi HIMSELF wants to go. At Papi's annual celebrity fundraising event, Damon was quoted as saying, "I was trying to tell him [Papi] that if he went to New York his 30 home runs turns into 40." (This is because of Yankee Stadium's short distance to its right field fence.) He elaborated in his words of absolute wisdom by saying that as cool as it would be for Papi to stay in Boston, sometimes it's better for players to go elsewhere because of less drama. SO YOU'RE TELLING ME, DAMON, THAT HE SHOULD THEREFORE GO TO YANKEE STADIUM, DRAMA CAPITAL OF THE BASEBALL WORLD?????? Fool. You are so dumb.

I wish Papi the best of luck, no matter what he decides to do. But Johhny Damon seriously needs to swallow his Yankee pride and mind his own business. The only person who truly knows what is right for David Ortiz is David Ortiz.

Muslim Brotherhood...couldn't be worse

OF COURSE, the Muslim Brotherhood won the election in Egypt. For all you crazy idiots who didn't listen to Glenn Beck the entire time when he warned the world against the so-called "Arab-awakening," "Arab Spring," or WHATEVER incorrect term you want to use to describe it, now you all learned your lesson.

Hosni Mubarak might have been an oppressing dictator who didn't help Egypt and instead starved his people; but at least he kept peace with the West and Israel. Now what have the Egyptian people inflicted upon themselves? A radical Muslim group that is the umbrella organization for the terrorist group Hamas. The Muslim Brotherhood even admitted that they will make Israel pay--for being a good country that gives Arabs rights?! Who knows... But either way, the West is screwed, and specifically Israel is screwed.

I love Glenn Beck. I hate liberals who didn't wake up and smell the radical Islamic coffee last year. To quote yours truly, "Arab Spring? No...I'd rather call it Arab Fall." It's no coincidence the Arab Fall fell out in the fall.

Bobby Valentine--Good Manager, Bad Timing?

Bobby Valentine has a brilliant baseball mind. He managed multiple successful teams in both the US and Japan. I don't care that he had an short playing career plagued by a major injury and retired at age 29. That has nothing to do with his ability to manage a baseball team.

Valentine helped the Mets win the wild card in both 1999 and 2000, and led them in their highly successful 2000 playoff bid (in which they lost the World Series to the dynastic Shmankees). Valentine clearly knows how to manage baseball on the field; he understands the technicalities.

But here is the issue with this seemingly great manager: he has a history of off-the-field rants against his own teammates and bosses. A perfect example would be the REASON HE WAS FIRED BY THE METS IN 2002 (Valentine had a lengthy conflict with the Mets' general manager and couldn't control himself in this angry battle.)

The Red Sox had one of the most historically awful downfalls in September of this season. Ahead by almost 10 games over the wild card heading into the final month, they blew it. Why? Not because of on-the-field issues. Rather, they fell apart off the field, which then caused their play to deteriorate on the field. Terry Francona, the manager this past season, even had a personal issue of his own with his wife. To bring in a guy, specifically at this current time, who is known to be great on the field but less than average off the field might be as risky as any move since selling away Babe Ruth to the Evil Empire. (Am I exaggerating? Decide for yourself...)

Therefore, I am very concerned about the fact that this guy who sometimes just can't shut up is becoming the manager of a team who needs the opposite. Let's hope I'm wrong.