Comments on: Colour Among The Black Hats?

By: Roman

Roman — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 23:02:26 +0000

2) God created us with different skills. To assume we can maximize ourselves (halakhically) in a uniform way, is like trying to apply the law without fully examining the case. Chanokh al pi darcko, ia broader than normally applied. modern psychology only revalidates what the gemara recorded generations ago.

-Very insightful Dr. Bill. In normative judaism we should all have our own rav who personally knows us to guide us according to whats best for us. The conformity issues arise when a large community subscribes to one leader who cant distinguish between his followers. Thus learning <168 hours might be bittel torah for some (few) but not for others. Some leaders often tend to institutionalize excellence (learning 168 hours) at the expense of most.

By: YM

YM — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 19:35:49 +0000

when yeshivas teach that < 168 hr of gmora a week [whether other tora, parnasa, and certainly ch'v anything goyish] is somehow a failing

Iacosta, where do you get this from?

By: tzippi

tzippi — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 16:55:17 +0000

Not to get hung up on a detail, but I could see expanding one’s minds in many ways, but art galleries are a problem. I’ve done some offbeat things with my kids, including taking them to a local art gallery to see a medieval armor exhibit. That was our first and last trip to any art museum, the reason being all the paintings, interspersed through the building, some as large as a wall that were well-crafted, but beyond immodest.

So when we expand our horizons, but only to a certain degree (like eschewing art museums) where on ROYGBIV would Rabbi Belovski put us?

By: YM

YM — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 19:39:33 +0000

The problem is that the Torah calls for constant devotion to Torah. Our Torah leadership, who sit 18 hours per day and learn (or did when they were younger) sometimes cannot see that not everyone can do this. They sometimes see time spent going to art galleries or classical music or visiting China as something they are not going to give a public, blanket endorsement to.

By: Joseph

Joseph — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 03:26:07 +0000

>Even in the most Orthodox of circles, there are those who visit art galleries, love classical music, tour China, learn Arabic and even consider these essential to their religious experience.<

Doesn’t sound like any of the Chareidim I know!

By: dr. bill

dr. bill — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 17:16:26 +0000

Excellent Post. Two(supporting) points:

1) A few weeks back R. Alderstein quoted Chief Rabbi Sacks accurately identifying Averroes as a rebbe of Rambam. if one were to recast Averroes in modern garb, it would provide a strong philosophic basis for what you are arguing. Traditional jews have a mesorah, a mimetic tradition to be precise, to which we must remain consistent. How different groups within the broader community accomplish that, including the “truths/beliefs” they may espouse, creates a broad spectrum. I use the word “consistent” as opposed to true or provable deliberately. When the set of “truths” becomes either too broad or too precise, tolerance for other members within that spectrum suffers. While I fully realize that consistency is too low a standard and can easily be abused, the abuse of “truth” is likewise very real.

By: lacosta

lacosta — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 07:15:08 +0000

when you delete the Twersky family, and Baal Tshuvas [ whose past sins now give them careers/interests that are hasbara plusses] what are you left with?
when yeshivas teach that < 168 hr of gmora a week [whether other tora, parnasa, and certainly ch'v anything goyish] is somehow a failing, how does this jive with your thesis?
….not well, i’m afraid…..

By: LOberstein

LOberstein — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 03:57:39 +0000

“a harmonious and tolerant Orthodox society, but confirm the beauty and breadth of the Torah.”
There is a scandal that cries to Heaven .There are those within our orthodox world who are so narrow in their view of who is a proper Jew that they won’t let little 3 year old girls whose parents are from the West sit in the same classroom with little 3 year old girls whose parents are Eretz Yisroeldike chareidim. I spoke to Rabbi Moshe Heinemann and he informed me that his own granddaughter is not attending class at Bais Yaakov Hatzfon in Yeushalayim because her parents won’t put her into the “American andSephardim” class. How in the name of all that is holy can we be silent and ignore such sinas chinom? Rabbi Heinemann told me that he has tried to contact everyone who has any influence on this school’s prinicpal but she won’t budge. He believes this is only the opening volley in an attempt to seperate Americans in other schools. He told me that this is a public school that gets 97% of its funding from the government and that it is illegal. Yet, it seems everyone in Israel is powerless to do anything.
Platitudes about mutual respect don’t fly when there is real discrimination against our own children and grandchildren . It should be at the top of everyone’s agenda to let our “sisters” in Israel know that they can’t tell us their needs have priority over even local poor and at the same time segregate our children for being born in the USA. It is a disgrace.

By: Charlie Hall

Charlie Hall — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 02:59:25 +0000

Arabic is actually a good language for a serious frum Jew to learn. Among the great sages of past who wrote seforim in Arabic were Rabbi Saadiah Gaon, Rabbi Bachya Ibn Pekudah, and Rambam.

By: etti rubin

etti rubin — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 02:07:32 +0000

It will be wondrous indeed when our societies choose to “validate the legitimate religious choices and ideas of others” rather than vilify them. Thank you for this uplifting thought!