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Rav Avigdor Miller on The Meshugas of Sports and Super Bowl
Q: May a yeshiva bochur listen to sports on the radio?
A: I’ll ask you a different question: May a yeshiva bochur stand on his head? Yes, if he wants to. But he’s a meshugenah if he does it.
What is sports? It’s so silly! The Yanks and the Mets hitting the baseball. It’s so meshugah. It’s an American goyishe meshugenah velt. It’s headlines – Yanks, Mets. It’s so silly.
What sports does is the following. The headlines show us how empty the gentile world is. And therefore, we take a lesson from that. These foolish people who can make headlines from the most silly things – we have to say, “Can they be an example for us at all?! In anything?!”
ברוך אלוקינו שהבדילנו מן התועים. Boruch Hashem that He has separated us from these lost neshamas.
TAPE # E-210 (December 1999)
Q: A lot of Jewish youth – and even adults sometimes – have an interest in playing sports and watching sports. What do you say about this phenomenon?
A: It depends what you mean. If sports are played for the prestige of the uniform, for the prestige of being a sports player, then it’s as silly as could be. It’s a silly gentile thing. Here’s a boy, strutting down the street, in a lacrosse uniform. Did you ever see a lacrosse uniform? You don’t what it is? It’s a game that high schools and colleges play. So he’s strutting down the street in his uniform, all covered with helmets and padded things all over him, and he walks down the street like a hero. He has a halo of sanctity around him. That’s what they think. They think that sports is something noble. So this garbage we have to get out of our heads. There is nothing noble about holding a stick and smacking a baseball. There’s nothing noble about that; nothing heroic about it.
However, if it’s something done for exercise, then there’s no question – you don’t need me to tell you that exercise is important. If it’s not too strenuous, then exercise is very good. But it would be even better if you would take a brisk walk for forty-five minutes. Not in the night time. And not on lonely streets. But a brisk walk in the fresh air is the best sport and the best exercise. And while you’re doing that, you can be thinking over all of the important ideas that a Jew should be filling his mind with. There’s no end to the thoughts that you must be filling your mind with that will prepare you for the World to Come. Whereas, if you’re banging around a ball or some other thing like that, that keeps your mind busy on small unimportant things, and the precious time is entirely wasted.
But watching sports?! That’s a one hundred percent waste of time! You should forget about all the ideals of sport and the glamour about sports. Because actually, it’s nothing at all.
Tape # 48 (January 1975)
Joseph
Come to Flatbush Yeshiva Chofetz Chaim. If you hurry you can see hundreds of youngsters having a Avos Ubunim instead of watching the game. It’s a beautiful sight.One thousand years from now, people will look back at the era of professional sports with the same puzzlement that we have for idolatry and paganism.
Nevertheless, as someone who was born and grew up in the NY area, I understand how professional sports has a certain attraction to it, and I understand how people get caught up in it.
All in all, there are things which are much worse going on in our community. I’d much rather people be sports fans than, say, racist or dishonest, especially if they are מתעטף בטלית שכולה תכלת and claim that what they are doing is רצון השם…
We already do look back at ancient sports that way.
Where is all the outcry about needing outlets and not just learning all day?
I mamush agree to a 1000 percent radius in which no one should even listen.
I happened to be with my son at the point, and we made a deal ( because he is into this mishugas ) that a sum of money will be dispensed for him if he learns torah@meshal the bachur 2018 -What is wrong with a bachur who shteigs all day and night watching a kosher super bowl without commercials.
Are you really so bored that you would rather talk to yourself then to other posters?
if you shtieg then the number one thing to do would be to not watch the game no matter what, it will cloud your mind and is bad for many reasons even without commercials
There’s otlets…and there’s outlets.
We already do look back at ancient sports that way.
Like the Olympics?
Moshal
Busted!
I agree its a lot the hype and all. But it is all relative, if the one involved is not that much of a Masmid in the first place, rather be involved in clean sports than just roaming the streets or surfing the web and who knows what else…
Many Bacohrim need an outlet and if sports is the outlet then nothing really wrong. The point is to keep it to a minimum and not to get too involved. (e.g. follow only Baseball and not basketball, hockey and football soccer etc..I think ‘Mashal’ logged into his fathers phone/PC/ iPad etc or the other way around. Another example/Moshol of someone that should rather be following Sports..
The point of learning is to do more mitzvos. If when you have free time you spend it watching the Superbowl maybe something is wrong with your learning.
Outlets are for plugging in your iPhone so you can read ywn.
You guys are all saying shtusim except for meshal the bochur.
watching the super bowl just makes it more distracting for gut yidishe buchrim trying to learn toyrah
I don’t even have a flip phone someone who has a tv, hashem will judge them. (hashem put you on this world not so you can watch tv, rather to learn toyrah)It is so much fun to read these threads where people haven’t realized that there only outlet is actually just “ripping” on other people.
The following comments indicate how many are so out of touch with what is the average (or many) Yeshva boy’s mindset.
” If when you have free time you spend it watching the Superbowl maybe something is wrong with your learning.”
“hashem put you on this world not so you can watch tv, rather to learn toyrah”
“if you shtieg then the number one thing to do would be to not watch the game no matter what”Yes – the ultimate goal of every Yehiva Bochur should be to ‘reach’ to a level of learning that he should not be interested in any SuperBowl or sport (of course without commercials. commercials are Asur), but unfortunately that is not the case. Many Yeshiva boys are not that ‘Areingetun’ or not reached that level YET.
Hence, their minds need to be occupied with something entertaining and clean. Sports will give them that outlet and occupy their minds when not learning. We hope that everyone will eventually reach the above level and will abandon all sports on his own ! But for the time being that is much better than surfing the web or watching movies etc…
I am in a town where sports are all there is….it is the controlling force of the town. The area surrounding the sport stadium is a complete ghost town when there are no events. when there is a game…..one cannot get a hotel room for a radius of over 40 miles in any direction….they have been long sold out. Traffic near the area, a few days ago a complete ghost town….is everywhere. Once empty restaurants…now have long waiting lists to get in….Bars, all over the place are full. Rowdiness rules. In a day or two…all will return to normal…..a ghost town. Each place of business is now charging premiums for anything. They come here from far and wide….to waste both time and Money. Such complete gashmius!
Meanwhile….every day….most people are giving not so free advertising and marketing for this nonsense. The clothing they are wearing promotes the local teams, all under license….bringing in huge amounts of money….just to have the team name on the clothing….and in the team colors of course….over inflates the price of the garment. And its not just garments….one can buy anything at all….in the team colors of course….with the team name on it……I even have seen kitchen appliances with this advertising for sale everywhere, in almost every store in town. More gashmius!
I have a neighbor….just a few houses away….He has this nonsense decorating his house and yard all year long. He is by far not alone. he cannot afford, of course to go to an event with the team he is adverting. They do not give him a red cent….but he has paid for all himself….to promote THEM.
And….the day of an event….and many hours before its start….local media….radio and TV…covers all. EACH game on broadcast radio is on almost EVERY station in the area….there is almost nothing else to listen to…. only the team propaganda.
Few residents of the actual town can afford to go to an event….and there are no tickets available…except from scalpers….event and often season was sold out long in advance. But they still support the team….giving all…..A few hours before event, on event day, local buses stop charging fares, all is free, both before and after the event (if buses are still running when game is over)…..Instead of bus sign saying where bus is going…..it now promotes team…..GO TEAM GO!….(all day on a game day)….
OUTSIDE stadium, long before event, often in the freezing cold, people gather to party all over. they call this tailgating…..aka getting drunk and overeating. Most will n not be attending event…Anywhere else, this would be called LOITERING. This is serious huge business.
The town pays LOW salaries…but these team members earn huge paychecks. If they do live in the area, they easily afford the most upscale homes. the rest of the town is a poverty pocket. The difference in the incomes is quite evident. The team members have a strong union and a guaranteed salary amount minimum. The minimum they can be paid, is far more than almost anybody in town earns. Most players are easily millionaires. Everybody else is struggling to earn a living.
BUT….we WORSHIP them all! A new religion, the religion of sport. Completely false, complete avodah Zorrah.
Rabbi Miller warned us all years ago….stay away! Complete and udder gashmius. No sense or purpose, just a war environment. All means nothing. FRUM YIDDEN should avoid all at any cost.
AND….what is a SUPER BOWL….only a deeper glorification , fortunately this hyper party will end the nonsense for a few months….until the frenzy starts up again…..AND…if YOUR team is not in the SUPER BOWL…..the party is over….unless you wish to change your belief in another team, be it only temporary….until next season….. Only one false diety is allowed at a ti me to be so fully worshiped. AS a season progresses , each weak diety looses its power to a stronger one, until only one reigns supreme. When the new supreme diety is crowned, the party is over……until next time…..when all of the chaos starts up again…. MORE GASHMIUS!
Baseball is okay. Football is treif.
Too bad Rabbi Miller was niftar before internet came out, I wonder what he would say about it (rolling eyes)
GOAN, goan, gone, home run!!!!!!!!!!!
a phone that you can log into????!!!! chas veshalom
*GAON
Baseball is not ok at all, WHAT SO EVER.If anything, the girls at baseball can be more not tznius than the girls at the super bowl, because at baseball it can be hotter weather than football, especially the superbowl. SO CHAS VISHALOM SHOULD ANYONE WATCH A BASEBALL GAME.
Rav Miller died in 2001, The internet came around to the public around 1994. He most certainly knew about it
Chafetz,
Well, you can listen to baseball on the radio…Chofetz Chaim 1, a sport is not kosher if there are girls at it at all. The rules of baseball are open to the public, and the frum community can make its own baseball games. That is something we can’t do for football.
Frum community can make football games too, they can make them either Flag Football or touch football to eliminate the tackling
Don’t forget that we can learn from the goyim of how to do mitzvas. The burn and desire they use for the mundane can be applied by us to the performance of mitzvas.
I’m not a football fan so I don’t care about the Super Bowl.
But just wondering , if watching it, or baseball or a hockey game can be compared to hanging out on streets “protesting ” , cursing, blocking ambulances, spitting and assaulting other Jews .
Wondering, because some who absolutely forbid sports find toirelach, chareeeefus and pilpul to excuse the latter behavior. Sporst, however, = goyim, avodah zara, blah, blah. dontcha know??Pig skin is assur b’hanna’ah.
Pig skin is assur b’hanna’ah.
I hope you’re joking.
“…. Pig skin is assur b’hanna’ah….”
Lol… , my understanding is that pig skin isn’t used anymore ,L’meiseh, bezman hazeh.
Koomt oiss that it’s
a sheilah if we’re goizer issur on the metziyus that is was once pig, and may be again. OR, since it’s faux ham, maybe the nekudah is that it’s stamm hefkeirus.
On the hand, baseball, which was enjoyed by many rabbonim including Rabbis Wein and Finkel Z”L ,
may be a be’riah bifnei atzmah and one may find a heter , even if b’dee’eved.
On top of that, it’s a sheileh whether just wearing a baseball cap, provided it’s not shatnes, is mutter on the streets or not. As long as it’s not a Yankees cap, says the …………… , there’s a sevoroh to say that it’s ok.Nu, bleibt a kasha.
Footballs aren’t made of pigskin, and apparently they never were. Lucky for the pigs.
Chofetz Chaim 1, the girls at the ball game are presumably no less tznius than the girls on the street, in the stores, on public transportation, etc.
Years ago, there was a popular shoe called a hush puppy. I was informed that it was made of pigskin. Many Frum kids wore them. It was not for sports.
If you are going to assur footballs made from pigskin, or hush puppies, you would also have to assur shtreimels and borsalino hats.
basar v’chalav is assur b’hana’a. Skins/fur of non-kosher animals are not a problem.Yehuda- if you can avoid those girls as much as possible you should. So you shouldn’t hang around streets with lots of girls if you don’t have to. And you definitely shouldn’t go out of your way to be in places where you will be tested. You don’t need to be at the baseball game. Maybe people avoid public transit for that reason. Same with going to malls.
Maybe they use tofu in place of pig skin.
Watching sports is like watching someone read a book.
Rav Miller died in 2001, The internet came around to the public around 1994. He most certainly knew about it
Zdad,
he didn’t know of it as it is today, if he did for sure he would assur it and “possibly” joe wouldn’t be in the coffee room
😛
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