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In the 20th century, one of the hardest commandments to keep was Shabbos. It was something everyone was violating and was supposedly necessary to violate in those times.
What do you think is this generation’s Shabbos?
znus and pritzus
Pritzus. V’lo sosuru acharei l’vavchem v’acharei ay-neichem
Not necessarily does every generation have to fill out the same form, but nor do I think that the Nisyonos of this generation is a secret.
There were generations whose overiding issue was Emuna, and there were generations that suffered from Taava. I think we have both.
Hold on tight. Don’t drop out two feet before the finish line.
Emunah and bitachon. Or the pursuit of tayvah and luxuries.
Internet,drug,alcohol addictions pick one
Connecting to people. Connecting to Hashem. Having a self identity. Living selflessly, and understanding the value of self sacrifice. Although these aren’t specific Mitzvos, I think they all represent what has become nearly obsolete in today’s technological world. It’s a world filled with technology centered around making our lives easier, and bringing service faster and more efficiently. Middos are hard to maintain when we’ve become used to receiving what we want, when we want it.
So I would go with any Mitzva that is Bein Adam Lchaveiroh to combat out technology problem.
There is also a sense of publicizing everything and anything about ourselves and everyone that has become problematic today. I would therefore also go with any Mitzva that encourages privacy, such as not speaking Lashon Hora, and Tznius.
Who know’s what people will look back at and see as our struggle? Did they know that Shabbos would be seen as their biggest hardship to overcome?
Respecting authority.
Veshinantam le’vanecha.
For people who were not always frum or who aren’t yet completely frum, keeping kashrus out of the home is a big challenge involving a lot of sacrifice. People are used to eating out at restaurants and at friend’s houses as one of their main pleasures in life, and much of international travel is about eating new things in exotic locales. Unless the person lives in and only wants to travel to NY or Israel (where there are tons of kosher restaurants), all this must be sacrificed.
Because of the internet, we all have a big challenge both in guarding our eyes from forbidden sites, and using our time wisely. Just think how much more time people could devote to prayer, Torah and mitzvos if they didn’t spend a few hours surfing on the web each day.
Given the extreme cleavages among the charedi, dati and chiloni communities in Israel, I’d say the main challenge there is Ahavas Yisroel and achdus.
emunah for sure.
Goq: znus/drug/alocohol/pritzus is not limited to (frum) jews.
Yytz,
I was raised Reform. We ate all kinds of chazzerai. I’ve been religious and shomer kashrut for the past 6 years or so, and I’ve found the following to be true. When I travel in other places, outside NY, I find that keeping kosher nowadays is relatively simple (maybe because I hold that R’ Hazdan and R’ Ralbag are acceptable rabbanim), since there are things like Amy’s meals, bagel bites, certain cheeses, hummus, yogurts, bread, etc. widely available and under hashgacha. Certainly, it’s not the same as sitting down in a restaurant, but one can eat decent on the go.
I think kashrut, given the plethora of options, is one of the easier things to keep.
Our challenges go deeper. Emunah, Kavod haRav, tzniut, pornography, parnassa, shidduchim, etc. are all very tragic problems we’re dealing with.
I also once read in the Hakhel journal that one prominent rabbi (could have been R’ Belsky, don’t remember) said that Chol haMoed was the shabbos of our times. Considering the fact that many people don’t know the halachos of chol hamoed, this is very pressing and pertinent.
all of the issues above seem to stem from what LAB mentioned: a lack of respect to authority or just a lack of respect for anyone at all including ourselves.
WIY, I have to agree with you about emunah and bitachon. We either take things for granted or we wonder if things even exist.
RebDoniel: I see what you’re saying, but I think it depends on the individual. For some people going to restaurants is a big part of their lives, so if they’re making the transition to becoming Orthodox, or if they’re Orthodox-but-not-totally-committed-to-100%-observance, then it can be a big struggle for some people (even if other issues are relevant to larger numbers of people). For other people, they’re content with hechshered foods from the grocery store and they don’t mind eating out.
One of the biggest challenges nowadays, I think, is the problem of how to attract larger numbers of non-Orthodox Jews to Orthodoxy, at a time of a lot of negative publicity and loosening moral standards. Orthodox Jews need to make a big effort to project a better image, and do more effective outreach, in order to make larger-scale teshuvah more likely. Some of R’ Alderstein’s recent essays on Cross Currents (the ones in response to the Pew study) are a good step in this direction, I think.
Internet, of course.
im speaking for myself only and not LAB since I don’t know what his train of thought was but basically this generation is filled with people who have no respect for anyone not even themselves. and im just saying when you have no respect for yourself, you will do anything, degrade yourself physically and spiritually because you don’t think you are worth anything anyway. and not respecting others, especially authority….. kids nowadays (I know I sound like an 80 year old ranting grandpa but..)ok scratch that:even adults nowadays walk around thinking they know better than everyone and therefore disregard anything anyone else will say or put in place for their own good. people have no respect for rabbonim, sects of Judaism don’t respect each other, people among the sects of Judaism don’t respect their friends. its a respectless world in a nutshell.
Yytz,
I agree that there needs to be an emphasis on derech eretz kadma l’torah. Sadly, I see mainly BT and convert families teaching their kids these things, and not enough FFB families emphasizing the need to be ethical, moral, and law-abiding.
In my experience, and the Pew report confirms this, kiruv doesn’t really help in making people fully observant. It does help, though, in helping the non-Orthodox have some sense of a kesher to Jewish practice. It’s not easy to convince people of the primacy of halacha and whatnot.
I actually think that our obsession with money and pursuing every tayvah and lack of self restraint automatically causes a lack of Emunah and bitachon so in a way they go together. We have so much wealth and all that so we don’t feel we need Hashem. We don’t realize everything we have comes from Him.
i disagree WIY, wealth (in money or other riches/luxuries) only amplifies the fact that Hashem is there to provide for everyone.
I think when you realize how billions in the world have nothing. How 6 million were sent to the gas chambers, how many kids are dying of disease every day in 2013, do you start to have questions of emunah
Bet when you get that contract on a huge business deal or get a new car you have tremendous hakaras hatov for Hashem
liveright – You took the words out of my mouth.
straight minds think alike.
Perhaps it is emunah after all, as people have said. Rebbe Nachman predicted a great wave of atheism, writing over 200 years ago:
“Great atheism is coming to the world as a test from on high. The world’s many sins are causing a terrible lack of faith. Happy is the person who stays firm in his faith in these times.
The fact that I am predicting this will not prevent the increase of Godlessness and confusion. Long ago Daniel and others made it known that this would happen in the days before the Mashiach. ‘Many will purify themselves and be refined, and make themselves shining white. But the wicked will do evil. and only the wise shall understand'(Daniel 12:10 ) .
Knowing that this has already been foreseen, it would seem that it should not be such a great trial for people to remain strong and firm in their faith. But the truth is that even though the prophets made this known long ago, it will still be a great trial. Many will fall by the way , and that is why it is written: ‘the wicked will do evil.’
I am revealing this for the sake of the few pure souls who will remain firm in their faith. They will certainly face great battles even in their own minds. But when they see that this has already been predicted, it will give them greater strength and encouragement.”
Sichot Haran #35
“Likewise, just before Mashiach comes, there will be a flood of atheism – not a literal flood of water but one of strange thoughts that will cover all the ‘high mountains’ even in the land of Israel, which was not affected by Noah’s flood. The rains will teem down with such force that even the ‘mountains of Israel’ will be drenched – even the hearts of the pure will be affected.
Wisdom and sophistication will be of no avail. The only ones who will hold firm are the simple Jews who recite Psalms simply and sincerely. That is why, when the Mashiach comes, they will be the ones who place the royal crown on his head.”
RebDoniel, well I think it’s interesting that in the Pew study, the MO were the most likely of all to say living an ethical life was important for their Judaism.
You’re right it’s a big challenge — and I think what makes it really hard is the issue of emunah. People think, Oh, I don’t really believe G-d wants us to do all these little details, so why should I be anything more than Reform? People need either to come to believe that adherence to traditional halacha is actually required, or to at least believe that it’s better to affiliate orthodox regardless of their beliefs.
“Sadly, I see mainly BT and convert families teaching their kids these things, and not enough FFB families emphasizing the need to be ethical, moral, and law-abiding.”
stereotyping at its best
Frankly i think the biggest problem in frum America these days is chutzpah no i dont refer to teenagers being obnoxious (though chances are they will turn into obnoxious adults) i refer to people who consider themselver very frum and yet have no problem breaking the laws of the land, at the beginning of the last century jews were so grateful to be in a land that didnt want to kill them and even though it was a hard adjustment from the alter heim they appreciated this medina, nowadays there are many people who think that if you look frum and act frum and are considered frum it is perfectly fine to break the laws and cheat the government, this i believe is the greatest fuel of modern anti semitism the perception that we believe the rules dont apply to us.
The goq
Its a symptom of other problems like lack of Emunah and bitachon and greed. Most of the ganavim are not trying to make ends meet they are stealing heavy millions.
Goq
What I think you mean to say is that there is an utter lack of yiras shomayim today. That’s why people do whatever they want and don’t care who it effects or if it will effect all the Jews and make a huge chillul Hashem. But I think the cause of the lack of YS is a lack of self esteem. We ddon’t realize our true worth and who we are as the am hanivchar. We don’t realize that we are His children and we don’t have pride in it.
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