Plenty of Craziness For Everyone

In order to evenly distribute the critique of silliness, file this one under the "What was I thinking??" category:

When Moshe Friedman, a senior leader of an ultra-Orthodox anti-Israel/Zionist Jewish secte Neturei Karta, attended the recent Holocaust denial conference in Iran and was photographed "passionately kissing" Iranian president Ahmadinejad, he knew that he would upset the world Jewish community.

However, no one was more upset that Moishe's wife, who had divorce papers waiting for him upon his return from the Persian kingdom. It was the old "I love you, honey, but I gotta draw the line somewhere" deal. Come to think about it, the thought of kissing someone whose lips touched Ahmadinejad definitely qualifies as a relationship-ender.

Although Friedman lives in Austria, other Neturei Karta live other countries such as the UK, USA, and Israel. Scandals within the Orthodox communities, however, are not uncommon. A recent Haaretz article describes some of these problems including an Orthodox butcher who knowingly sold non-kosher meat to fellow Orthodox, internal conflicts which have spilled over into violence and insulting rivals (such as a quarrel between two sons who are each fighting to succeed their deceased father's leadership), and worshippers getting drunk on large quantities of hard liquor in synagogues (maybe they were getting "filled with the 'spirits'").

It's good to know that the Middle Eastern influence is alive and well in other parts of the world.