New York Magazine and such...

When I saw the new New York Magazine in my mailbox, I salivated at the thought of sitting on my deck, iced tea in hand, sun blazing high overhead, and reading some fabulous, fun articles. I like to think of that particular periodical as "thought candy." It's not quite intellecutal but it's also not tabloid trash. NYM falls somewhere in between the glam and glizt of the tony Hamptons and the high-browed discerning art critics that collectively scour the magazine for braggable quotes.

Much to my surprise, I found this article about a young Jewish refugee from the upstate lunacy called Kyrius Joel, an uber Orthodox group of flapping fanatics. I'm not one to critisize others religions, but the pure patriarchal nature of this brand of Judism is not only repulsive but frightening. I'm used to my reformed New York Jewish friends who are not only chic and saavy but wonderfully cultured in all things that matter. As I delved into this article, what I saw was a young woman, forced to marry someone she didn't know at the age of 17. Having sex with no foreplay (I'm sorry but that's the best part of the process) through a sheet with a hole in it is a valid and blatent crime against womanhood. I'm apalled at how women are being treated and find it disturbing that these men can get away with such abuses. The young woman, named Getty, details her experience at Kyrius Joel in upstate Monroe County, telling of how she had to have a rabbi examine her underwear to determine if any discharge was present. She would be unable to reuinite with her husband until she was CLEAN. WHAT????? How horrible for this girl. She was told that the Holocaust never happened...it was God's punishment. Another outrage.

When she escaped the compound with her young daughter to find a better life in Brooklyn, her daughter was kidnapped by masked men from Kyrius Joel and brought back to the father. At this time, she still does not have custody of her only child.

How much longer can we stand by and watch crime after crime happen to women? As a nation, we are concerned about what is going on in Africa and China, but are we really concerned about what is going on in our own "land of the free?" As humanists, we should care what happens to our brethran across the globe but we should also pay attention to frightening events happening just 50 miles north of New York City. Women need to unite and forge a stronger bond to help other females in crisis. Right now, I sit in shear frustration. I feel a need to help but feel powerless and disenfranchised.