Some things are so repulsive we don’t discuss them. Some sins are so far beyond the pale we make believe they don’t exist. Some activities hidden until just a few years ago are now flaunted. There is no shame any more. The world no longer blushes. They proudly parade their abominations.
But there ought to be one place in the world which is still sacrosanct. There ought to be one people who understood that the morals of the Torah speak to Jews for all time. Despite how far Jews have fallen they ought to understand that the behavior in the holy land must be different. You would think they haven’t forgotten that Yerushalayim is the eternally holy city.
Has Zionism sunk so far that there is nothing left which is sacred? Has our people really descended to the lowest level of tumah? Are they really so far gone that there is no longer any sensitivity for the world of G-d, as has been accepted for the centuries since Sinai?
We must raise our voices in protest of the Chilul Hashem, of the profaning of that which is holy. We must do what we can to raise the level of holiness and purity among our people. We must demonstrate that this is not our way. We must raise our voices in prayer that the profanity not be a cause for further horror to rain down upon our land.
We mourn the loss of innocence, of chastity, of morality, of decency; we mourn the loss of what we hold dear. We pray that we will be able to bring up our children pure and holy in a defiled world. We pray that we will be able to hold fast against incursions which seek to undermine our virtues and dull our sensitivities to holiness, piety and sanctity.
We pray that our loyal and fidelity to Torah be inviolate and untainted. We pray that we remain uncontaminated from the poisons which seek to entice and ensnare us in terminal traps.
We pray that Hashem give us the moral strength and fiber to withstand the onslaught of all that it ant-ethical to our beliefs, teachings and customs which have held our people fast in the centuries of the exile.
(This article was written by Rabbi Pinchos Lipschitz, Editor in Chief Yated Neeman.)
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18 Responses
There is no shame any more…. is right ! lets look around and see what’s happening to Jewish teens from Frum families from all over the world. HASHEM WE NEED YOUR HELP !!! There is no shame any more….
Great article! Rabbi Lipshutz does it again. Tells it as it is. Couldn’t have said it better. Let’s pray that his words comes true.
where is the the modiah ?
It is interesting to note that by contrast, Hamodiah has maintained a total blackout on reporting this issue so far.
i was just in eretz yisroel and saw first hand what is going on, and i can only say that there is no question that everyone is in agreement that the torah expects us to react to this abomination that is scheduled to take place in yerushalaim ir hakodesh. which ben torah is not pained by the utter azus that these oseh maaseh behema intend to profane everything holy by their actions, and surely their self distructive lifestyles will not be allowed to infiltrate holyness. however, how the torah expects you to react is not clear and has not been clearly defined by the gedolim other than a peaceful voice of protest to abstruct all traffic by standing in protest in unprecedented numbers as scheduled. the burning of city property and physical violence excercised in the name of torah has not been clearly directed by ANY of the gedolei yisroel and any parent who sends their child to do this will not only give the abominable more fuel that they are dealing with irresponsible people but the parents should be responsible for their childrens actions.when the children are wreaking havok on their way back from school there is noone in charge its a hefker velt!and adults stand by and watch and say nothing. for a country who the people value principle more than money it suprises me that everyone is silent and watches this nonsense. we live according to the torah so let our gedolim dictate how to respond to this danger and let us all go about it as one.
“It is interesting to note that by contrast, Hamodiah has maintained a total blackout on reporting this issue so far.”
I won’t buy the Yated this week – as I don’t relish having to explain this to my 12 yr old & 10 yr old sons.
as Pinny himself says: “We pray that we will be able to bring up our children pure and holy in a defiled world.”
you gotta do more than pray, man!
Jones, the Yated is not only way that news spreads. What will you tell your sons when they come home with all the info anyway and want to know what you feel about it? Are you going to run buy a Yated to show them how revolted the Am Ha’Torah is or are you you going to bury your ostrich head in the Hamodia?
Sroy, sarcasm is unnecessary. It’s a coverup for lack of thoughtful reflection.
We all feel just as pained as you do. Pinny writes well, and with passion. However, please remember that like the Yated, the Hamodia operates solely within the portals of Da’as Torah. They adhere very closely to this policy, and have taken heat, on more than one occasion, for not reporting news when their Rabbonim forbade it. The Yated does this as well; they may receive different guidance.
Thank you Sroy, for your pithy rejoinder.
I would like to decide what & when to tell my children.
The point of a Heimishe paper is not to have these decisions forced upon you.
Take your point about the Yated not being “the only way news spreads” to the logical conclusion.
If they’ll hear about it anyway – I’ve already lost the battle, and we might as well buy the NYT
One way or another there’s no point to the Yated if I have to censor it.
“to show them how revolted the Am Ha’Torah is” is hardly reason enough to give up on your principles & raison d’étre.
Sara, you wrote: “the Hamodia operates solely within the portals of Da’as Torah.”
Is that so? PERHAPS YOU CAN EXPLAIN TO ME WHY FOR THE LAST TWO WEEKS EVERY SINGLE DAY THEY HAVE FORCED A GOYISH NEWSPAPER INTO MY HOME??!! I SUBSCRIBED TO THE HAMODIA, NOT THE NY SUN!! I URGE ALL TO CANCEL THEIR SUBSCRIPTIONS IN PROTEST!!
The reason that I get the Hamodia is because I don’t want a Goyish newspaper in my home.
What nerve.
The Hocker – what are talking about? (benichusa)
this sounds very interesting.
The Hamodia started sticking in a NY Sun into every daily Hamodia!!
Did I ask for this?
I just cancelled my subscription. I urge all others to do the same in protest.
I was also shocked that nothig was written in the paper about the situation in Yerushalayim.
Shame on them, Kudos to Yated.
jones,
when the incident happend in lakewood earlier in the year the yated had a small article saying the same thing it said here. what did you tell your children then? or u didnt buy it then either.
Kudos to the yated for disscussing the important issue in a very kosher way.
Pinny………..You Da Man!!!!
Jones, I applaud you wanting to guard your childrens kedusha, my point is that refusing to buy the Yated will not protect your family from learning the news. what they WILL get from the Yated is that there is a Torah approach to dealing with anything that can happen in life, even if it is just that we must voice a macha’ah. There will unfortunately be situations in life where the news will be things we wish would not get broadcast and learning how to handle it is vital! I dont think that you can get that from any other paper than the Yated. Ignoring news does not make it go away.
As far as logical conclusions: they say that a practical person will live longer than a logical person because practical people look both ways on a one way street!
sroy
I’m not boycotting the Yated over this, all I said as that I won’t buy it this week.
I didn’t, and I managed a productive conversation b’inyanei d’yoma with my children anyway.
Good line about crossing the street.
Jones, dont worry, your 12 year old will probably read about it on line, that, you do have in the house, btw, the torah also talks about these subjects and i sure hope you have a set of chumashim at home!
tachlis. a very good point, but if the Torah was printed from scratch today, i’m sure there would be those calling for it’s editing!