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Please share with us examples of why Yidden are the absolute BEST! We all know Yidden are the best, we all see many examples every day, let us share it with each other and provide encouragement and nourishment!
At the risk of sounding silly, let me ask you to qualify your statement:
Yidden are the absolute best WHAT?
The Wolf
WE are the Am Hanivchar. WE have the Torah. Of course we are the best 🙂
The question really should be, to provide stories that drive home this point. the web (including YWN) is filled with so many negative topics, it would be nice to read about all the fine yidden and their wonderful deeds.
One night after Maariv some neighbors and I passed a young Chasideshe couple stuck on the side of the road with a flat tire. From the way they were dressed it was obvious that they were on the way to a wedding.
Setting our personal views aside, (we may have different views but at the end of the day we all pray to the same person,) we offered to change his tire for him so that he wouldn’t have to walk into the wedding with dirty hands and full of sweat.
While some of us were changing the tire, others were giving him directions to 24 hour tire repair shops in the surrounding neighborhoods while others waited just to make sure they were able to drive off safely.
After the change was done he asked for our names and asked us to take his name so he can repay us if we ever need help in his neighborhood. We all refused saying that we didn’t want him to feel as if he owed us anything.
He and his wife thanked us over and over again, then they got into the car, he rolled down his window and said, “Mi K’amcha Yisroel”, and drove off.
I think I should mention at this time that while some of the biggest Mitzvos are done anonymously, unfortunately the opposite is also true by aveiros.
Please my dear friends, before posting a vicious attack against anyone online, wait a few seconds and think if you would use the same wording if you had to sign your real name.
We are ‘Bayshonim, Rachmonim and Gomlei Chasodim, we are Maaminim Bnei Maaminim,
Which other nation in the world would endure what we have endured all these years and still remain true to their creator?
MI KEAMCHO YISROEL’
Dr. Pepper, we pray to a God, not a person!
I think nameless’s answer says it all.
DR Pepper. You really didnt mean to write “Setting our personal views aside, (we may have different views but at the end of the day we all pray to the same person,)”, did you?
PERSON???!!??!?!?! What yeshiva did you learn in, Mesivta Gedola DiNazareth?
OK, leave him (her?) be. I’m sure it was just a poor choice of words.
Wolf
Reb somebody and Reb jphone,
You’re correct, I did not mean to write that. I didn’t realize I wrote it until I submitted the reply and I could figure out how to edit the post.
I assure you that I pray to the one above and no human being.
Give Dr. Pepper a break, I don’t think he meant to equalize God as a person. It’s just a figure of speech.
OBVIOUSLY “person” was not meant literally
anyone who felt superior to him for this, or jumped on him for it, should take 5 minutes and examine their Neshama.
torahis
you dont understand who the Jewish People are AT ALL.
we are a different min altogether than the nations.
we are not “better”, rather the Jewish People are the reason, the SOLE reason, for the existence of the universe.
if the Emes offends your american liberal sensitivities, so be it.
torahis1 – WE Yidden are the CHOSEN NATION. We are incomparably better than the umos haolam. We have kedusha. They have tuma.
Dr. Pepper, if you want to give me a title of importance I’ll take Rabbanit. Thank you.
Seriously now, I’m sorry for calling out your mistake. It just struck me as a funny comment. Again, I do apologize. I’m sure you meant God and I could have easily made the same mistake.
Torahis do I detect a hint of (self) hatred in your post? You start out by saying that you don’t like this thread. Well no one is forcing u to be here! We’re happy to be jews, & we’re bringing out points why.
Its been examined. Anyway, we ARE better because we have the Torah. Of course, having the torah and living how its wants us to, are 2 different things.
I have to agree with torahis1. Jews have the potential to be the greatest people. Judaism is the greatest religion in the world. Unfortunately, not everyone lives up to their potential. Even some people think they’re doing the right thing and have total disregard for others.
For example: I was visiting a hospital in NYC the other day. I was looking for parking, and finally saw someone pulling out. I moved up, put on my signal, and was about to back in, when someone came and zipped into the spot, taking it way from me. It turned out it was the guy from the Satmar Bikur Cholim, delivering food to patients. He needed the spot, as it was right in front of the hospital, and he had to carry a lot of boxes. If he’d asked me, and explained it to me, I might have allowed him to take the spot. Instead, he made a huge chillul Hashem, and probably lost any schar he would have gotten for the mitzvah that day.
He had the potential to be a great person doing a great thing. He blew it.
Good going Dr. Pepper.
So who has the next chizuk story?
We are privileged to be part of Am Yisroel. At the same time, this comes with responsibilities for which we are accountable. B’nei Noach are required to adhere to a different group of orders. Members of both groups are judged accordingly and in fact the Chasidei Umos HaOlam do receive Olam Habah.
Is a Kohen better than a Layvee or Yisroel? Is a Layvee better than a Yisroel? Halacha instructs us: the honor of a talmud chacham who is a mamzer overrides that of a kohen gadol am haaretz.
Yisroel Kedoshim Heim.
What nation is lucky enough to have Shabbos?
Where our cell phones are not constantly annoying us,
where telemarketers cant reach us through land-line phones,
where we are not constantly
running/
working/
gardening/
shopping/
doing the ever-growing pile of laundry/
cooking/
cleaning /,
surgically attached to our blackberry or internet,
where we are ‘forced’ (and I use that positively) to spend quality time with our families for 2 (out of 3 meals),
where we, and others around us, are dressed nicely, cleanly, in pretty clothes,
where we can shep nachas from ours/ our neighbors/ our friends’ children,
Many jobs offer 401K or retirement benefits where they put aside some of your money to be used when you retire. But by then, you are already over the hill.
Boruch HaShem, the mitzvah of Shabbos gives us 1 day of retirement each week, while we are young enough to appreciate it, and do something about it, and sit back and enjoy the brochos we have, instead of waiting till we’re 65 and realizing that the ‘cats in the cradle’ song describes us, c’v’.
dont forget “pinu lechem tzefona” tzafon=hide.
dont cause a reason for the goyim to hate us!
where has our modesty gone????
This debate about “better” has degenerated into subtle symantics. I think the point Torahis1 is trying to make is that none of us should confuse the superior mission that klal yisroel has as a nation with there necessarily being anything inately superior with any one of ourselves as individuals. Each of us has a POTENTIAL for greater accomplishment and an OOPORTUNITY/ RESPONSIBILITY for greater kiddush hashem than our non-jewish neighbors. But in the sense that the word “better” is often understood to refer to simple “mentschlachkeit” we should not delude ourselves into think that it is a birthright. We all have to work on ourselves and when we get too caught up in thinking that “mentschlachkeit” is automatic, that is when we risk behaving in a non-mentschlach manner.
The postings of some here that Jews are better than others means that they are baalei gayvah which means that they are worse than others.
We are only better because as posuk says lo merubchem chashak hashem bachem ki atem hameat mikol haamim, and Rashi say memaatim atzmechem. We are anavim who appreciate everything and everybody from all walks of life and from all nations, and show boundless hakaras hatov to all who have helped the world in any way.
Our yashrus comes from anivus, and the feeling that we must always stive to do more for the world. The hasmadah and ethics of our avos remains imprinted in us so that even those who are not frum often accomplish great things as well, in so many areas.
Empty bragging that we are better because we have the Torah is the antithesis of all the Torah represents.
Joseph, if you really believe as you do, then try some math. The Jews are 0.2% of the world population. Therefore any Jew is automatically in the 99.8th percentile according to you. That would include Chaim Weitzmann, Ehud Olmert and all the Zionists, as well. So why do you criticize them constantly? Is it normal to criticize a child for getting a 99.8 on his report card because he didn’t get 100?
Gotcha there.
josef
yes i can explain it
we live in a goyish velt and our minds are polluted with their Sheker and immoral sewage.
that is why we must separate from them and all their media
also as regards the 98.8% issue
it’s simple
just like you cant use a steel furnace thermometer to measure a babys temperature.
we are on an entirely different scale of measurement
Joseph and Feivel,
Without getting into the merits of your statments, you’ll be happy to know that Catholics feel the same way about their religion, as do Muslims about their’s, and Hindu’s about their’s. So everybody is happy. Each feels that their co-religionists are better or holier or more saved than everybody else.
Joseph and Feivel,
I recall a shmooz from my mashgiach wherein he explained (quoting the Kuzari and others) that “Yisrael” is in fact a different category in the creation distinct from other members of humanity. This distinction, however, he explained is a double-edged sword. It is true that we are embued with greater energies and potential (and remember, a goy can, by his CHOICE to be migayer, earn that greater status as well) but that we have the choice to use those energies for kidush hashem or ch”v chilul hashem. He went on to quote other gedolim who noted that all too often the leaders of some of the most corrupt and perverse movements in recent history had been jews who failed to use their greater energies for the purposes of kedusha.
I don’t think that either of you are really disagreeing with me or the writer of this letter. I think we all agree that we should get up in the morning and make the bracha “shelo asani goy” with the pride of knowing that “Ashrecha Yisrael Mi Komocha”
Where we differ is in emphasis. The two of you like to emphasize the element of a “birthright” of greater holiness. Yes we do have a birthright to greater kedusha. But when the emphasis is on what we are entitled to for free, rather than what we must work for, and when the emphasis is on saying things like “the inherent tumah that permeates the umos haolam” rather than on the notion of “chaviv adam shenivra b’tzelem” that often becomes a recipe for chilul hashem rather than kiddush hashem.
Not long ago, dozens of residents of Boro Park engaged in a riot against the local police over an incident that essentially was a minor nuisance that was blown way out of proportion. It was an unmitigated chilul hashem of the worst order. I can’t help but think that the perpetrators of that riot were more likely members of the “we are born hollier” school of emphasis than of the “we must work to realize our greater potential for holliness” school of thought. And if I’m right, I’d much rather be a member of the latter.
tvt
you misunderstand me
i am not emphasizing anything in particular, other than responding to the goyish liberal concept expressed here that Yiddim are essentially the same as goyim.
i fully realize that when Jews do not live as they are obligated to, then they do not descend to the level of the nations, they become LOWER than animals.
to pashuteh yid, of course.
Pashutah Yid:
True, Catholics and other feel that their religion is superior. The question is to they VALUE their practices the way we do?
I truly feel that other denominations(besides may Muslims who’s sense of loyalty to their religion is similar to ours) pr
they practice up to a point and when things interfere they do what they want! Jews dont choose according to convenience!
To tvt, well-said. Let’s also not forget the posuk Lo btzidkascha hashem elokecha nosein lcha es haaretz hatova hazos lrishta, ki am ksheh oref atah.
Gayvah is asur mikol vakol. That is the gadlus of klal yisroel.
There are those who say that Yidden are better because we were born that way and there are those who say that we are better because we make ourselves better.
I’d rather not take any side, but how about everyone give one idea how we could make ourselves stand out as role models for the rest of society.
When I take my kids for a walk; if we see a cop sitting in a car I tell my kids to wave. The cops usually smile and wave back. At times they even turn on their light to make the little ones laugh. There’s at least one cop who patrols our neighborhood who recognizes my kids and will wave to them if he notices them first.
Although this hasn’t happened yet but I think that if I returned to our car and was about to get a ticket (for an expired meter or something similar) from a cop who in the past noticed that we took the time to say hello, I would have a high probability of getting a second chance.
When I take the bus or train I always make sure to thank the driver and conductor. (These people hold positions where they are part of the scenery and usually only get noticed when something negative occurs. They appreciate when others acknowledge that they exist and show them some gratitude for their hard work.)
Finally, when I call a customer service and get greeted by “May I have your name and address/ account number …?” I always say, “Hi, How has your day been so far?” they always say something like “good, thanks for asking, how about you?” and then the operator is usually more relaxed and easier to deal with. (This might not be a Kiddush Hashem per se, after all how many representatives out there who never met a Yid would know that Pepper is a Yiddish name?)
Thanks everyone and hopefully after we all accept the wonderful ideas that others are going to suggest we will merit seeing the redemption in our days and then the whole world will know why Yidden are the best!
Why yidden are the best…
They’re not. They’re supposed to be, but they’re not
Dr. Pepper,
Loved your post, and the attitude you espouse. I too have been trying to make an effort to be friendlier with strangers.
At the risk of being a nit-picker, let me pick on one little aspect of what you wrote. I also try to make an effort to extend extra courtesy when I encounter policemen and I also tell my kids to. But I do so becasue they are public servants doing a job most of us would be too terrified to consider. In other words, I thank them because they deserve it. If that, one day, spares me from a ticket, I’ll thank Hashem for the chesed. (My real prayer is that I and my fellow observant Jews will be respectful enough of the law to walk the extra half block rather than park illegally in the first place.)
I realize that you most likely share the same motivations, I just think your choice of words might have given the wrong impression.
Good Shabbos.
Dr. Pepper,
100%. May I add when you are on the subway, and see a member of a minority struggling with many kids, you say hello and tell them how nice their kids are, and play with the kids for a minute or two.
Also realizing that other people also have a tzelem elokim (Unless they forfeit it like a suicide bomber or a nazi r”l), and have a mission on this earth. They all take pride in what they are doing. By building a bridge the right way, or painting a nice picture, or deliveriung the food to the store, or collecting the trash on time, they are doing a service to the briyos and to the RBSH. Millions of people both Jews and non-Jews have a chelek in every single word of Torah that is learned. This is the ikar anivus and hakaras hatov that allows one to be zocheh to any madraigos whatsoever in avodas hashem. Without it, every word of Torah is nothing but gasus haruach.
We in the frum community sometimes pride oursleves on doing and teaching chesed. I am reminded of the Rashi that says that the Chasidah is a treifeh bird, because “oseh chesed im mino” it only does chesed to members of its own species or club. We need to broaden our horizons and understand that our mission is to be kind to the whole world, and by doing chesed and giving them a taste of true yiddishe warmth, they will see how enjoyable it is, and seek to increase their own chesed. Thus, this sets off a vicious cycle of chesed in the entire world. Unfortunately so many of them believe it is a dog-eats-dog world, simply because they have never been exposed to any warmth from a fellow human being who is unrelated.
Nameless, I appreciate your thoughts, however, my policy is that when someone throws around one of these yeshivishe slogans as did the originator of the thread, I challenge him to be masbir and matim what he said, or else it is simple, meaningless gayvah and arrogance.
JosephF and Feivel, you simply cannot have it both ways. If the Jews are on the same scale as the non-Jews, and every Jew is better than every non-Jew, then the lowest percentile possible for Weitzmann and Olmert is 99.8, a pretty stuning grade.
If Jews and non-Jews are on different scales, then how do you compare the two to say one is better than the other? It is impossible, as you have no common yardstick by which to judge.
they make good gefilte fish. i know someone who one time made gefilte fish. that was a story. do you like it
I think anyone patronizing this blog is slightly insecure. that makes them not frum and they should not be given a voice to spout their apikorsus
Mr. Poshit Yid, Why are you soo allergic and antogonistic to the truth that Yidden are superior?
UJM, because I am allergic and antagonistic to gayvah in any form whatsoever. While in Sotah we find a machlokes whether a Talmid Chochom can have 1/64th of gayvah, the Rambam paskens asur mikol vakol. Also, one shita in Avodah Zara is anavah gedola mikulam, which implies that the correct girsa is anavah mviah leydei ruach hakodesh. So if you want to go all the way up to the highest madreiga that there is, there is a shortcut, and it’s called anivus.
Nevertheless, that doesn’t mean that I don’t have oceans of pride in the midos and accomplishments of the yidden in both the ruchnius and secular worlds. Ki hi chochmaschem uvinaschem l’einei haamim. I believe that the midos we have inherited from earlier generations of kedoshim have been instilled even into the secular. That’s why we have an Einstein, an Aumann, the Marx brothers, a Dr. Seuss, etc. Even the patriotic song G-d bless America that the whole nation loves to sing was written by a yid. He wrote it because of his sense of hakaras hatov that was inherited from good yiddishe midos whether he realized it or not. The Marx brothers were like the inshi beduchi of the gemara in Taanis, who gained olam haba because they cheered up depressed people with silly jokes.
I could go on and on about the accomplishments of the yidden, (even more than Joesph, since I have a secular background as well, and am exposed to many more kinds of yidden than he is). I am bursting with pride in the accomplishments of the zionists in EY, as well. There is nobody alive who has more pride in our nation. But we must stay away from gayvah, arrogance, bragging and anything that can be construed as racism, as it is poison. We should instead share our gifts and talents and midos for the benefit of the klal and the world as a whole.
So we never have the right to feel superior. We must feel instead that we have a greater achrayus to accomplish and not waste the investment our avos and imahos have put into us, and the kochos that the RBSH has given us.
Pashuteh Yid,
I think it speaks volumes that the Yiddishe “pride” you found it most compelling to mention are Einstein, Aumann, the Marx brothers, and Dr. Seuss.
My partial list (off the top of my head) that would first come to mind in any list I would post would be the Chofetz Chaim, the Baal Shem, the Gaon, the Satmar Rebbe, Reb Moshe, Reb Ahron, Rashi, Rabbeinu Gershom, etc.
BTW what is your “secular background” that you speak of?
The big one, Please reread. I said “EVEN into the secular”, implying al achas kamah vkamah into the gedolim. I emphasized the secular, because nobody here bashes the gedolim, while there are many kannaim here who constantly bash the secular and have trouble finding anything positive to say about them.
My secular background is that I have gone to college, as well as learned in Beis Medrash.
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