Friday, August 29, 2008
Treating the symptoms, not the disease
I don't know whether the blogosphere is the cause or simply an outgrowth of the crises facing frumkeit today, but I will say that I've learned far more than I ever wanted to about chasidishe infighting, charedi misdeeds in Israel, modern-orthodox apologetics, and kosher food scandals.
And the end result, if one judges from the buzz and boards, is that the bad far outbalances the good.
So I'm left fairly cynical and unhopeful.
One example that ticked me off, today, was this gem from Vosizneias, which reported that on a very limited grassroots level, Satmar and Lubavitch are making inroads. The story ends with: It is the hope that the latest developments in intra-Hasidic relations will be a portent of the arrival of Moshiach Tzidkainu Amain.
Well, I certainly hope so, too.
But are they so naive and foolish as to believe one Lubavitcher donating money to a Satmar project is a portent of Moshiach? When Ashkenazi charedim still discriminate horribly against Sephardim? When mobs in Geula and Meah Shearim burn garbage cans because thugs from the Mishmeres Hatznius were lawfully arrested? When chiloni families chase a charedi family out of a playground? When Judaism is still as fractured and divisive as ever?
Come on, people. We still have a long ways to go.
I was heartened, however, to read this piece about Rabbi Marc Angel. He seems to have a better idea of how to bring Yidden together. It's called respect and tolerance. Let's see which mehalech takes hold.
Like I said, I'm not hopeful.
Gitten Shabbos and choidesh!
And the end result, if one judges from the buzz and boards, is that the bad far outbalances the good.
So I'm left fairly cynical and unhopeful.
One example that ticked me off, today, was this gem from Vosizneias, which reported that on a very limited grassroots level, Satmar and Lubavitch are making inroads. The story ends with: It is the hope that the latest developments in intra-Hasidic relations will be a portent of the arrival of Moshiach Tzidkainu Amain.
Well, I certainly hope so, too.
But are they so naive and foolish as to believe one Lubavitcher donating money to a Satmar project is a portent of Moshiach? When Ashkenazi charedim still discriminate horribly against Sephardim? When mobs in Geula and Meah Shearim burn garbage cans because thugs from the Mishmeres Hatznius were lawfully arrested? When chiloni families chase a charedi family out of a playground? When Judaism is still as fractured and divisive as ever?
Come on, people. We still have a long ways to go.
I was heartened, however, to read this piece about Rabbi Marc Angel. He seems to have a better idea of how to bring Yidden together. It's called respect and tolerance. Let's see which mehalech takes hold.
Like I said, I'm not hopeful.
Gitten Shabbos and choidesh!
Monday, November 05, 2007
Politics as usual
I'm not one to comment or pontificate when it comes to politics. I'm not such a big macher. I'm not super-connected. I don't know who's making the back-room deals and who's negotiating with which 'askan' for which slice of which pie.
But here in the Monsey area - Town of Ramapo - local elections are happening tomorrow. And the campaigning and rhetoric have reached a fever pitch. I've been musing about these things for a while, and the latest issue of the Community Connections drove me to the point of blogging about it.
Basically, you have two camps in the elections: The incumbents, who have no problem allowing mosdos and 'student' housing and 'new community' developers to run roughshod over the zoning laws and build, build, build.
Then you have the "Preserve Ramapo" ticket, which aims to put a stop to planned large-scale developments and to scrutinize any development deals to ensure that they don't overburden local resources and/or change the 'suburban atmosphere' of the area.
As many pundits and observers far better informed than I have pointed out, Preserve Ramapo is running on only one issue, and thus has limited appeal, except among those voters who are angry enough at the vast, expanding crowd of ultra-orthodox Jews and the changing 'atmosphere' that they're going to support anybody who says "enough!"
And on the ultra-O side, the incumbents are painted as friends who support the community, and the opponents as rabid anti-Semites who want to shutter every yeshiva and shul in the county.
The reality is a tad more nuanced. Not much more, but a tad.
Looking at the ads in the Connections, it's clear that our ultra-O brothers aren't arguing about the zoning illegalities, the flagrant violations of building codes, and the general overcrowding, squalor, and disrepair of the structures in which they live and worship. All of those things are accepted as true and enduring. The issue is, will the local officials bother us about it?
One ad shows a house facade with an official notice of code violation tacked to the front door. "Do you want this on your house? You'd better vote for the incumbents, or else the opposition is going to win, and then they'll crack down on us!"
Another ad shows a school bus parked in front of a shuttered school building. There are tiny 'speech' bubbles on top of some blurry figures outside the bus:
"Why is the school closed? Why are they sending us home at 9 in the morning?"
"Because of zoning."
Yet another ad shows a photo of the current town supervisor, with the caption, in Hebrew, "Me'chasidei umos ha'olam" - "One of the righteous gentiles."
This title is reserved, traditionally, for non-Jews who risked their lives to rescue Jews during the Holocaust. Oskar Schindler. Chiune Sugihara. And then there's Chris St. Lawrence of Ramapo, the man we have to thank for miles of traffic on Route 306 and dangerous conditions on many streets and in many buildings.
Apt comparison, no?
I think it's important for these askanim and rabbunim to wake up and recognize that if ultra-O groups are allowed to develop unchecked, all of Monsey and its surroundings will look like the Horton and Bates developments off Route 59. Unpaved, uneven streets. No grass - just swaths of dirt. Garbage and broken toys littering the front walks. But hey! It's heimish!! I guess that means it's more like a 19th-century Eastern European backwater than a 21st-century neighborhood.
Will there every be any introspection? Will there ever be a point where they look up and say, "Hey, maybe there's a reason these people are so angry at us?"
Or is it just too easy to dismiss their legitimate complaints and criticisms as anti-Semitism?
My money's on the latter. And I'll probably be too busy to vote, anyway.
But here in the Monsey area - Town of Ramapo - local elections are happening tomorrow. And the campaigning and rhetoric have reached a fever pitch. I've been musing about these things for a while, and the latest issue of the Community Connections drove me to the point of blogging about it.
Basically, you have two camps in the elections: The incumbents, who have no problem allowing mosdos and 'student' housing and 'new community' developers to run roughshod over the zoning laws and build, build, build.
Then you have the "Preserve Ramapo" ticket, which aims to put a stop to planned large-scale developments and to scrutinize any development deals to ensure that they don't overburden local resources and/or change the 'suburban atmosphere' of the area.
As many pundits and observers far better informed than I have pointed out, Preserve Ramapo is running on only one issue, and thus has limited appeal, except among those voters who are angry enough at the vast, expanding crowd of ultra-orthodox Jews and the changing 'atmosphere' that they're going to support anybody who says "enough!"
And on the ultra-O side, the incumbents are painted as friends who support the community, and the opponents as rabid anti-Semites who want to shutter every yeshiva and shul in the county.
The reality is a tad more nuanced. Not much more, but a tad.
Looking at the ads in the Connections, it's clear that our ultra-O brothers aren't arguing about the zoning illegalities, the flagrant violations of building codes, and the general overcrowding, squalor, and disrepair of the structures in which they live and worship. All of those things are accepted as true and enduring. The issue is, will the local officials bother us about it?
One ad shows a house facade with an official notice of code violation tacked to the front door. "Do you want this on your house? You'd better vote for the incumbents, or else the opposition is going to win, and then they'll crack down on us!"
Another ad shows a school bus parked in front of a shuttered school building. There are tiny 'speech' bubbles on top of some blurry figures outside the bus:
"Why is the school closed? Why are they sending us home at 9 in the morning?"
"Because of zoning."
Yet another ad shows a photo of the current town supervisor, with the caption, in Hebrew, "Me'chasidei umos ha'olam" - "One of the righteous gentiles."
This title is reserved, traditionally, for non-Jews who risked their lives to rescue Jews during the Holocaust. Oskar Schindler. Chiune Sugihara. And then there's Chris St. Lawrence of Ramapo, the man we have to thank for miles of traffic on Route 306 and dangerous conditions on many streets and in many buildings.
Apt comparison, no?
I think it's important for these askanim and rabbunim to wake up and recognize that if ultra-O groups are allowed to develop unchecked, all of Monsey and its surroundings will look like the Horton and Bates developments off Route 59. Unpaved, uneven streets. No grass - just swaths of dirt. Garbage and broken toys littering the front walks. But hey! It's heimish!! I guess that means it's more like a 19th-century Eastern European backwater than a 21st-century neighborhood.
Will there every be any introspection? Will there ever be a point where they look up and say, "Hey, maybe there's a reason these people are so angry at us?"
Or is it just too easy to dismiss their legitimate complaints and criticisms as anti-Semitism?
My money's on the latter. And I'll probably be too busy to vote, anyway.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Tear down that wall!
All the usual bloggers have already cited and commented on this story: The Beis Yaakov school of Emanuel has separate classes for Sephardi girls and Ashkenazi girls, and there's a curtain dividing the schoolyard in half - one side for the 'darker' girls, and one for the lighter ones.
Now, I know the media are all anti-charedi. And I'm sure there's some bias to the story. But they have footage of the schoolyard. They have girls who speak on the record. They also have a member of the school's PTA, who looks for all the world like a very religious Jew, speaking on the record. He's even very polite about it. He says, "This is definitely not an educational [decision]. And it might be something worse."
So I, for one, am convinced that there's something rotten in Emanuel. And it is abhorrent and unconscionable. As Rabbi Horowitz is wont to say, "They don't represent me."
The school claims the separation is based on the spiritual levels of the two groups. Almost like the way many yeshivos have "higher" and "lower" shiurim. But a mechitza? Who are you kidding?
In Monsey, mechitzos are all the rage. We have them in shuls, on buses, in wedding halls, at kiddush, at vorts and sheva brachos, at restaurants, you name it. We've also discovered that at certain events, especially shabbos programs where families of different observance levels come together, there are 'mixed' tables where several couples eat together, 'separate' tables where individual families eat without socializing with others, then mechitzos for families that will eat 'together' but won't eat with 'others' in the main dining room, mechitzos for families that won't eat together, period, and mechitzos for single men and single women who won't eat at separate tables in the main dining room. It makes one's head spin, but the organizers do everything they can to make sure everyone's comfortable.
I am against these, naturally. But I think that even if one accepts that we need to separate the genders ALL the time, the case of Emanuel would be seen as mugzam - too much - over the top. Do we need to separate the white girls from the dark girls? When they're both in the same school? With an opaque curtain? Even on the playground?!
I believe, firmly, that this is where the excessive emphasis on separation leads. And if someone doesn't take a stand and say, "ad kan," it's not going to stop.
Several blogs have extended discussions about how some RW Jewish authorities maintain that Muslims have so much success and power (relative to us) because they're so careful about modesty. This is where we're headed, people. Why put up a bunch of mechitzos when we can just drape every woman and girl with a sheet?
Sigh. We need moshiach. That's the bottom line. We need normalcy and tolerance to reign in our communities. I don't think anything short of a direct revelation from G0d Himself is going to change anything. And even then, it won't be a fait accompli. In the meantime, however, all we can do is daven and set a personal example. Good Shabbos.
Now, I know the media are all anti-charedi. And I'm sure there's some bias to the story. But they have footage of the schoolyard. They have girls who speak on the record. They also have a member of the school's PTA, who looks for all the world like a very religious Jew, speaking on the record. He's even very polite about it. He says, "This is definitely not an educational [decision]. And it might be something worse."
So I, for one, am convinced that there's something rotten in Emanuel. And it is abhorrent and unconscionable. As Rabbi Horowitz is wont to say, "They don't represent me."
The school claims the separation is based on the spiritual levels of the two groups. Almost like the way many yeshivos have "higher" and "lower" shiurim. But a mechitza? Who are you kidding?
In Monsey, mechitzos are all the rage. We have them in shuls, on buses, in wedding halls, at kiddush, at vorts and sheva brachos, at restaurants, you name it. We've also discovered that at certain events, especially shabbos programs where families of different observance levels come together, there are 'mixed' tables where several couples eat together, 'separate' tables where individual families eat without socializing with others, then mechitzos for families that will eat 'together' but won't eat with 'others' in the main dining room, mechitzos for families that won't eat together, period, and mechitzos for single men and single women who won't eat at separate tables in the main dining room. It makes one's head spin, but the organizers do everything they can to make sure everyone's comfortable.
I am against these, naturally. But I think that even if one accepts that we need to separate the genders ALL the time, the case of Emanuel would be seen as mugzam - too much - over the top. Do we need to separate the white girls from the dark girls? When they're both in the same school? With an opaque curtain? Even on the playground?!
I believe, firmly, that this is where the excessive emphasis on separation leads. And if someone doesn't take a stand and say, "ad kan," it's not going to stop.
Several blogs have extended discussions about how some RW Jewish authorities maintain that Muslims have so much success and power (relative to us) because they're so careful about modesty. This is where we're headed, people. Why put up a bunch of mechitzos when we can just drape every woman and girl with a sheet?
Sigh. We need moshiach. That's the bottom line. We need normalcy and tolerance to reign in our communities. I don't think anything short of a direct revelation from G0d Himself is going to change anything. And even then, it won't be a fait accompli. In the meantime, however, all we can do is daven and set a personal example. Good Shabbos.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Wisdom among the nations
I just read an interesting article about the Dalai Lama's visit to New York this week. He's among the world religious leaders who, in my opinion, are doing their part to further G0d's holy work. Rambam is very clear that any man or woman, from any walk of life, can devote his or her life to G0d, forsaking material comforts and living simply, to better devote his or her energies to service. I can't speak for the finer points of Buddhist philosophy, but nobody can accuse the Dalai Lama of being materialistic.
R' Shlomo said, many times, that after the Holocaust, many young Jews felt disconnected from their roots and sought answers among "teachers from the East." The holy teachers, he added, brought their students to a point where they were ready to connect to spirituality, and then instructed them to continue their studies in authentic Jewish institutions. The not-so-holy ones did not turn their students on to yiddishkeit.
If I'm not mistaken, the current Dalai Lama is one of the 'holy teachers' who has returned Jewish seekers to their roots. Interestingly enough, the article excerpts one of the handouts that the Dalai Lama distributed for his three-day teaching session:
Followers of other religions are urged to "practice your own religions seriously and sincerely." To the non-religious, he writes, "I request you try to be warm-hearted."
Good advice, I think, from an inspiring and genuinely holy person.
R' Shlomo said, many times, that after the Holocaust, many young Jews felt disconnected from their roots and sought answers among "teachers from the East." The holy teachers, he added, brought their students to a point where they were ready to connect to spirituality, and then instructed them to continue their studies in authentic Jewish institutions. The not-so-holy ones did not turn their students on to yiddishkeit.
If I'm not mistaken, the current Dalai Lama is one of the 'holy teachers' who has returned Jewish seekers to their roots. Interestingly enough, the article excerpts one of the handouts that the Dalai Lama distributed for his three-day teaching session:
Followers of other religions are urged to "practice your own religions seriously and sincerely." To the non-religious, he writes, "I request you try to be warm-hearted."
Good advice, I think, from an inspiring and genuinely holy person.
And you shall love the stranger...
A lot of people have been forwarding this article from last sunday's NY Times. It's an interesting 'inside look' at the wealthy Syrian Jewish community of Brooklyn and Deal.
They're shrewd businesspeople. They're successful. They take care of their own. They're very dedicated to family and community - all of that is great. But they're also very patriarchal -- men work while women make sure to look fabulous, take care of the kids, and cook like gourmet chefs.
And, they have a strict policy against accepting converts into the community. No gerim allowed. Ever.
First introduced in 1935, this 'takana' has been re-issued and re-ratified over the years. According to the article, more than 200 Syrian rabbis signed on the most recent version.
I'm not a rabbi, by any stretch, but don't we have a Torah obligation to welcome and love gerim? And most important, to accept them and not hold their past against them? Isn't it a direct violation of several Torah laws to issue and enforce this takana?
Granted, it's not particularly "Torah-true" to emphasize material wealth and superficial beauty, either, but that never stopped anybody on either side of the Ashkenaz/Sefarad divide. Also, plenty of people, families, and communities can have racist attitudes and consider gerim "inferior," but to codify it as law seems brazenly and unrepentantly wrong.
Is this discussed someplace? Because I'd love to get their rationale.
They're shrewd businesspeople. They're successful. They take care of their own. They're very dedicated to family and community - all of that is great. But they're also very patriarchal -- men work while women make sure to look fabulous, take care of the kids, and cook like gourmet chefs.
And, they have a strict policy against accepting converts into the community. No gerim allowed. Ever.
First introduced in 1935, this 'takana' has been re-issued and re-ratified over the years. According to the article, more than 200 Syrian rabbis signed on the most recent version.
I'm not a rabbi, by any stretch, but don't we have a Torah obligation to welcome and love gerim? And most important, to accept them and not hold their past against them? Isn't it a direct violation of several Torah laws to issue and enforce this takana?
Granted, it's not particularly "Torah-true" to emphasize material wealth and superficial beauty, either, but that never stopped anybody on either side of the Ashkenaz/Sefarad divide. Also, plenty of people, families, and communities can have racist attitudes and consider gerim "inferior," but to codify it as law seems brazenly and unrepentantly wrong.
Is this discussed someplace? Because I'd love to get their rationale.
Monday, September 10, 2007
Cure is worse than the disease
I have cousins.
Almost everybody does, I'd imagine, but I have some particularly good and sweet and generous and devoted and amazing cousins. The kind anybody'd be lucky to have. You've never met more erliche girls. Really.
The ones I'm writing about today are sisters: a sophomore and senior, respectively, in a Beis Yaakov high school that is known for at least attempting to provide a decent secular education (as compared to other Beis Yaakov schools).
The other night, these two cousins were babysitting my children, so we could go out and attend some important function. Nothing relaxing and recreational for us. Especially not in Elul!
As I'm driving my cousins home, one asks me whether I know of any current news stories in the science fields. She has to write up a summary of a current item for her science class. Great!
"Of course," I said. "Just the other day, I saw a story about advances in prosthetics. I'll e-mail you the link..."
"Umm. Yeah. We can't use the Internet."
"What?" I asked, incredulously.
"We can't use the Internet. If we get the article from the Internet, we need to have a parent do the search, and we cannot be in the room, and then print out the article. Then we need to bring in a note from the parent saying that we weren't in the room when the article was downloaded and printed."
Now, I know a lot of ink has been spilled about the inefficacy of bans, and the silliness of issuing blanket issurim on things people don't even know enough about. Monsey is full of pundits who draw a direct line between opening an Internet Explorer window and abandonment of Yiddishkeit, if not an actual spontaneous metamorphosis into a horned, slavering monster, as depicted in one cautionary drawing.
But this really shocked me. Because this is supposed to be a decent school, and this is the policy they have in place for SENIORS. They're telling bright, inquisitive, capable girls to NOT learn. To NOT research. To close their eyes and pretend the most important knowledge tool of the last century doesn't exist.
These girls are old enough to drive. They're old enough to vote. They're old enough to start thinking about the shidduch parsha. But the Internet?! Not without a note from Mommy or Totty that you weren't in the room. I don't get it.
Don't we want them to gain skills they can use in the marketplace, so as to support kollel husbands? Don't we want to produce mature, confident bnos Torah, instead of 17- and 18-year-old girls who aren't ALLOWED to think for themselves? In the name of frumkeit?!
Can anyone explain this?!
Almost everybody does, I'd imagine, but I have some particularly good and sweet and generous and devoted and amazing cousins. The kind anybody'd be lucky to have. You've never met more erliche girls. Really.
The ones I'm writing about today are sisters: a sophomore and senior, respectively, in a Beis Yaakov high school that is known for at least attempting to provide a decent secular education (as compared to other Beis Yaakov schools).
The other night, these two cousins were babysitting my children, so we could go out and attend some important function. Nothing relaxing and recreational for us. Especially not in Elul!
As I'm driving my cousins home, one asks me whether I know of any current news stories in the science fields. She has to write up a summary of a current item for her science class. Great!
"Of course," I said. "Just the other day, I saw a story about advances in prosthetics. I'll e-mail you the link..."
"Umm. Yeah. We can't use the Internet."
"What?" I asked, incredulously.
"We can't use the Internet. If we get the article from the Internet, we need to have a parent do the search, and we cannot be in the room, and then print out the article. Then we need to bring in a note from the parent saying that we weren't in the room when the article was downloaded and printed."
Now, I know a lot of ink has been spilled about the inefficacy of bans, and the silliness of issuing blanket issurim on things people don't even know enough about. Monsey is full of pundits who draw a direct line between opening an Internet Explorer window and abandonment of Yiddishkeit, if not an actual spontaneous metamorphosis into a horned, slavering monster, as depicted in one cautionary drawing.
But this really shocked me. Because this is supposed to be a decent school, and this is the policy they have in place for SENIORS. They're telling bright, inquisitive, capable girls to NOT learn. To NOT research. To close their eyes and pretend the most important knowledge tool of the last century doesn't exist.
These girls are old enough to drive. They're old enough to vote. They're old enough to start thinking about the shidduch parsha. But the Internet?! Not without a note from Mommy or Totty that you weren't in the room. I don't get it.
Don't we want them to gain skills they can use in the marketplace, so as to support kollel husbands? Don't we want to produce mature, confident bnos Torah, instead of 17- and 18-year-old girls who aren't ALLOWED to think for themselves? In the name of frumkeit?!
Can anyone explain this?!
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Shaina does it again...
On Friday, my wife was on the phone with a friend. During the course of conversation, she said, "No, we don't have any exciting plans for the weekend."
My daughter, now 4, interjected.
"Yes, we do!"
I looked at her, puzzled. "What do you mean?"
"We're having Shabbos!!"
And there you have it.
My daughter, now 4, interjected.
"Yes, we do!"
I looked at her, puzzled. "What do you mean?"
"We're having Shabbos!!"
And there you have it.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
As if we didn't have anything else to worry about...
I just saw this in the "Family Matters" section of last week's Jewish Press. Compulsive gambling--in the form of rampant spending at Chinese Auctions--is the new danger threatening the very fabric of Orthodox Jewish life. In the blogosphere, they'd refer to this as the "money quote:"
How many large families are suffering the effects of Chinese Auction addictions and not talking about it, while in the interim this is destroying the financial integrity of the frum family?
I have to say--I thought we had our hands full worrying about the shidduch crisis, at-risk youth, molestation, Chareditization, Kollelization, book-banners, know-nothing ignorance mongers, woman-suppressors, corrupt organizations, and Rubashkin's shechita practices. This is a new one.
Of course, it's those shifty and inscrutable Chinese behind it all.
How many large families are suffering the effects of Chinese Auction addictions and not talking about it, while in the interim this is destroying the financial integrity of the frum family?
I have to say--I thought we had our hands full worrying about the shidduch crisis, at-risk youth, molestation, Chareditization, Kollelization, book-banners, know-nothing ignorance mongers, woman-suppressors, corrupt organizations, and Rubashkin's shechita practices. This is a new one.
Of course, it's those shifty and inscrutable Chinese behind it all.
