Kuvult

When I sometimes feel all is lost I take comfort watching videos of the large school I went to. The Bar Mitzvah video shows Davening. There’s a healthy mix of boys that have no hat or jacket, some jacket no hat & some hat & jacket. Boys with knit yarmulkes, leather yarmulkes (with sports logos) & black hats are dancing together. Boys have Peyos that are barely Kosher & boys have long Chasidish Peyos. Some will probably end up in Lakewood & some in YU. The parents could split up into little slices that exactly serve who they are but they recognize diversity (within reason) & exposure to other types of Jews when their young is a positive not a negative. This is how all Jews should be like.

One example where I’m from School A (mixed seating at functions, Zoom during Covid, some kids have TVs, etc.) School B (separate seating, phone not zoom during Covid, no TVs, many no internet, etc)
They both engage in projects and the kids from School A go to School B to compete & the next time B goes to A. They play in the same sports leagues & do joint Chesed projects.
You can have a different Hashkafa but still respect & get along with those different than you.

My Zaidy occasionally spoke in churches. He was the only Rabbi in a small town with a tiny Jewish population. In these rural type of places it’s very important to be part of the greater community. The Jews in town had a good thing going & my Zaidy wasn’t going to ruin it for them by separating from the Non-Jews.
From what I understand we generally don’t get involved with church but when there’s a pressing need (as determined by a competent Ruv) there’s ruin to be lenient.

I don’t know. He only blows it a few times a year in Elul if he missed it. So it wasn’t enough of a bother to fix it. I think the smell lasted 4-5 years.

My father has a long Shofar he blows occasionally & it smelled like a farm for years.

Always,
You have to remember Judaism looked very different back then. Rabbi Abraham Rice was the first (& for a while) only real Frum Rabbi in America. This what he wrote from Baltimore in the 1840’s to his Rebbe in Germany. A very sad description indeed.
“I dwell in complete isolation (obscurity) without a teacher or a companion in this land whose atmosphere is not conducive to wisdom; all religious questions (shaalos) are brought to me for solution. I have to carry the full load on my shoulders and have to assume the authority to render decisions in Halachic questions in both private and public matters.
And one more thing I wish to disclose to you my revered master and teacher … and my soul weepeth in the dark on account of it, namely, that the character of religious life in this land is on the lowest level; most of the people are eating non-kosher food, are violating the Shabbos in public … and there are thousands who have been assimilated among the non-Jewish population, and have married non-Jewish women. Under these circumstances, my mind is perplexed and I wonder whether a Jew may live in a land such as this.”

Always,
At Americas founding there were approx 2,500 Jews. In 1,840 there were 15,000. So pre the German Jewish immigration there wasn’t much in terms of American-Jewish history or culture.

It’s Mesorah goes back to 1851! It’s one of the few Shuls where being strictly Frum was a requirement for full membership. Rabbi Avraham Rice (the 1st Ruv in America) in 1849 resigned from his Shul because they were pushing for Reforms. In 1851 he started his own strictly Frum Minyan which later became Shearith Israel. So your talking some serious history here. A strictly Frum Shul that was around from before the Civil War.

This is one reason people hate us. “Give a Jew a foot and he’ll take a mile.” The state was nice enough to allow private cars to respond with L&S but of course some of us turned that into Rebbe motorcades and I left work late on Friday and I need to rush home. Very juvenile.

1,
Community=Kehilla
We lost the Kehilla when the Jews in Europe were emancipated. The (Coercive) Kehillas of the past had real power. The taxed you, handled most court cases, told you where to Daven, told you where your kids go to school, told you where you must buy your meat, you had to buy your Mezuzahs and Tefillin from the Kehilla Sofer (whether you thought he was a good Sofer or not). They told you the Kehilla minhagim & you were required to keep them. In other words there was no I dont like the Shul so I’ll open a Shteibel or I dont like the school so I’ll open my own. But Jews accepted it as part of Jewish life. If a Jew lived in a Kehilla where they didn’t put on Tefillin on Chol Hamoed & they moved to a Kehilla that did they accepted the change instead of fighting it. The Kehilla governing body could fine or even jail you for not following the rules. Today no Kehillas exist. The closest thing we have to a Kehilla today are Kiryas Joel and New Square but they don’t have anything like the power the Coercive Kehilla had.

Reb Eliezer,
I’m pretty sure it was Rav Schwab who said it when he was a Ruv in Baltimore.

My sons nanny was a Hindu and she was wonderful. Though I’m not sure why when he sees something with many arms or an elephant face he stops and bows.

YungernanS,
Chasidim are not ‘More” religious. They are “Differently” religious. That’s neither good nor bad it’s just different.

It’s a big myth about Jews “Religiously” attending Minyan. It’s hard to imagine how dark it is without all the “Light pollution” we have. If a Jew lived in a Shtetl good luck walking a few hundred feet down a rutted, potholed dirt road without breaking your neck. So many many Jews davened Friday night at home. Shabbos morning wasn’t an issue. It was difficult to walk home after Mincha so they served Shalos Seudos in Shul so the men could use fire to light the way home after Shabbos ended.

I asked the caretaker at a cemetery if it’s really worse. He said, “Yes it’s much worse. People are just dying to get in here.”

Different distances and different angles.

Ujm,
As Rav Ruderman explained to Professor William Helmreich in a January 1978 interview, “College gives a person parnossah. We find that our boys stay with learning longer this way. They don’t have to kill themselves for a job. Anyway, in business, you have less time to learn than if you’re a professional.”
From what I understand (I never went there but know plenty that did.) The R”Y believed in college not CH”V because he believed there’s something to be gained from Secular knowledge. But because a professional making a good salary has time to learn. The one with no skills is working 1-2 jobs and borrowing from this and that Gemach always worrying how to put food on the table and has no time to learn. The business man is working 60-70 hours a week trying to run his business and has no time to learn and if the business fails he’s in real trouble. But if a Talmid becomes an accountant or a lawyer after a few years he’s generally working 9-5 and can afford a menschlich lifestyle. This gives him the time to learn in peace without parnassah issues hanging over his head.

I forget which Rabbi (Nodeh BeYehudah?) told a man who was having trouble with another man to lend him money and he’ll never see him again.

Always,
I never understood this concept of “Tzadikim” owning or running their own school like I
see in some places. The boys and girls schools I’m aware of are community schools not “Owned” by anyone. The school has a Hanala which handles the day to day operations. A Vaad HaRabbanim made of a diverse mix of Rabbis whose parents in their Shul sends their kids there and a Vaad HaChinuch made up of a diverse group of parents with kids there. They all have to answer to each other so no one can do anything extreme. Parents whose kids are college bound make sure the Secular education is top notch without going to far. Parents whose kids are on a Kollel path push for top notch Lemudei Chol without going to far. All the parents but especially the president of the Vaad must be a well respected, successful, no drama, person. Theres no games with a certain group trying to take over or over pushing their agenda. A balance of power works well not only in govt.

Menachem,
That’s why schools shouldn’t teach Hashkafa. They should only teach Torah and Middos. I saw school videos. The YU Ruv of a Modern Zionist shul talked about Torah (No Hashkafa), the Yeshivish Ruv spoke about Torah (No Hashkafa) and the Chasidish Rebbe spoke about Torah (No Hashkafa).
It sends a clear message to the Talmidim. You don’t have to agree with a Rebbes Hashkafa (knowing his Shul), you don’t have to become a member of his Shul, but you do have to respect him as a Ruv in the community and you do have to get along with the kids that do Daven there. A great message for when they’re adults about getting along.

I always heard Nishmas Kol Chai was written by Paul. He was sent on a mission by the Rabbis to separate Christianity from Judaism. They were very similar and ignorant Jews couldn’t tell the difference. Peter said Non-Jews have to keep Halacha while Paul said they didn’t. So it makes sense later for Paul to write it letting
Jews know he was never really a Christian he was just following thetge orders of the Rabbanim.

It’s not against NYers. Its against how they act and I don’t hate them at all. I just wish some would act better with Ahavas Yisroel and getting along. So many here say they want to end Sinas Chinan BUT BUY BUT BUT BUT if my neighbors kids go to a different school with a different Hashkafa they can’t be friends with my kids. My kids are Yeshivish, they can’t be in school with more moderns kids.
It’s simple, don’t judge a Yid by their Hashkafa judge them by whether they’re a Mensch.
A man here died. He was the president of Mizrachi for 30 years and worked hard for Bnei Akiva and other Zionist programs. He also help found a Modern Orthodox coed Zionist school.
The Ruv who gave the Heaped was a Senior Yeshivish Rabbi. This person was shocked and speechless. A very prominent Yeshiva Ruv is giving the Hesped for the president of Mizrachi? The Ruv started, “While he and I disagreed on many issues I always held him in the highest regard.” The man was a Mensch and did what he did lshma so why wouldn’t the Frum Ruv have a good relationship with him? That exudes Shalom and Achdus.

Coffee Addict
Yes, Why?
My sibling lives in very Frum Monsey. She came to visit and we went to a cafe. She looked around and saw Chasidim with their Tzitzis over their shirts at one table, another table had a group of Yeshiva boys but there was also tables with knit yarmulkes, as well as Conservative and Reform Jews with no yarmulkes and women dressed far from any tznius standard. My sibling said, “It’s so nice there are so many different types of Jews here and they all get along.” Why isn’t that happening in Monsey and everywhere else?

Ujm,
It depends who. Open Orthodox was used to attack an entire movement without looking into it. Most “Chovivei Torah” Rabbanim are no different than other Orthodox Rabbanim in core beliefs. A Chovivei Rabbi here wrote & the other one signed how much this accusation bothered him and that he was taught & believes in Torah M’Sinai, Baal Peh passed down and binding going back to Moshe, etc. (While admitting some of the Rabbis had problematic beliefs). These Rabbis are accepted here (why not) and are considered part of the community. For others you don’t sit with them discussing different versions of Halacha, but there’s still Shalom & Achdus sitting with the Reform and Conservative Rabbis to discuss policies that affect the entire Jewish community.

Why is it very positive as opposed to just a change? Do children called by their Jewish names end up better? My Ruv reminds us there was Antignous ish Socho. It’s not that his Jewish name was Avraham and his Goyish name was Antignous but at his Bris he was given a Greek name as his Jewish name. The same with Rebbe Tarfon. Both his parents were Kohanim and he was from a powerful wealthy elite family. But at his Bris his parents named him Tarfon after the Greek general “Tryphon” So does a child being called by a Jewish name or even being given a Jewish name “do better”? These 2 very famous Jews did just fine being called Greek names and there are plenty more examples.
First you need to figure out what the benefit is and how to measure if there is any benefit.
(Why they were given Greek instead of Jewish names at their Bris is a different discussion.)