Kathy posted this piece by Miranda Frum this morning.
I'm glad she wrote about it.
I was going to write about Boteach anyway over the weekend, but this gives me a chance to post his idiotic article from HuffPo here.
Dear Rabbi Shmuely Boteach:
How about you stay away from writing about things that you know absolutely NOTHING about?
Just because you are a Rabbi and a parent, that doesn't mean that you know anything about special needs parenting, nor about special needs children.
You are way, way out of your depth here.
But frankly, I've always thought your judgement was flawed, given that you made "friends" with Michael Jackson.
Did you have him over for Shabbos?
Did you let him sleep in the same room with your children? No? Didn't think so.
If we take away the title of "Rabbi", and look at your credentials-I think you present as someone that I would not be inclined to take advice from.
In one of your own books, you discuss your broken home, your detached and troubled relationship to a father who was not really present in your life.You discuss wrestling with your brother's homosexuality. You discuss how your children paint you-and it was really not always in the most flattering light-they were especially critical of you (by your own admission) about how you speak to your wife.
You struck up a friendship with one of the most arguably troubled celebrity souls in America-why?
And then, you end up with a reality show.
The Male Kardashian of the Rabbinate. Fabulous.
So please-spare me your completely rambling assessments of the disabled, and your breathtaking arrogance in assuming that you know better than G-d what his purpose is in creating disabled children:
("I have no idea why G-d would allow any child to come into this world
with severe mental or physical disability. What I do know, however, is
that He shouldn't.")
And what do you mean by this:
"Even as we love and cherish every Down-syndrome child, we dare never
dignify Down syndrome itself, and I honor all doctors who work
tirelessly so that this disease can be purged and children came into the
world healthy."
Purge them out of the womb?
Where should the "purge" begin? Or end?
Would you have "purged" your friends' child-the one you write about with such staged emotion?
Disgraceful.
You need to take a lesson from George Will, or better yet-leave the "expert" commentary on special needs parenting and parents to the people who actually have some skin in the game.
I would never seek your advice, "Rabbi".
