Are there any honest people left in this world.

I find it very disenchanting to go out every day and engage in interaction with peole who always try to screw you. It is especially sad that many of these people are ones who claim to be shomer torah and mitzvos. why is it that there is no shame when it come to money?
I just went to buy lunch in a restaurant on the Upper West Side. I looked at the menu and decided that I wanted a Hamburger. The menu said it was $10.00, so why did the cashies try to charge me $13.00? well I just walked out. What would you do?

is it just me or you too?

Don’t you wish you could just get out of bed every day, put your feet on the floor and stand up without any aches and pains in your body?
Then when you leave the house you don’t find any trash on your yard from the neighbors partying teen age daughters. Then when you get into your car you get to where you gotta go without any incidents.
When you get to work it would be nice that the boss isn’t a prick and harasses you for every little nit picking thing you do or don’t do or haven’t gotten to yet. And when even if he is wrong you know he has to be right. But when the shit hits the fan he blames you for his screw ups.
When you get home your kids have done their homework and are ready for bed. That would be a dream. Why isn’t there enough time in the day to get all the things done that you have to. So now you spend all your time that you are not at work doing all the other stuff for everyone else in your life. Why is so hard for a woman to change a freakin light bulb? Why cant you sit in shul without being harassed by the collectors? Why don’t we ever have enough money to pay all the bills.
Is it just the kvetcher or is it you too?

trapped

I often feel that I am trapped in a time warp of about 20 to 25 years ago. You see the way frumkite today, has evolved, seems to me to be without feeling or reason. What do I mean you ask? Well it is very simple. How many people do you know are really frum in all their ways and stick to the ways of their ancestors? but the defining line between them and the rest of the world is that the wife doesn’t cover her hair all the time.

Years ago it was not so “envogue” to do the hair thing yet people were very frum and respectful of tradition and religion. (I’m not debating the halachic origins at this time) However, I find that if you don’t cover your hair in most circles, you just don’t fit in with the “Frum Crowd” or the fashionably cool people.

Why are young couples today covering their hair as often as we see? Do they even know why they do it? And to what extent are they doing it? For example, go to Sesame Place on any summer day. You will see tons of young orthodox (generic term used loosely) couples there. But are they covering their hair in the park? If they do, is it the same way they would if they were home? I don’t think so. It’s either all or nothing who are you fooling? It is not enough to just put on a hat and let the rest hang out, is it? Oh and the hat or the bandana with the short short skirt. Cut the crap already.

Now let’s take this further. The same women who are sooooo strict on covering their hair for what ever reason mind you, come to shul bare legged. And in short skirts. Excuse me is that right? Is that allowed? You see the woman who doesn’t cover her hair knows not to come to shul without stockings and open toed shoes. So what does the lid cover represent? Is it that you are just part of the “In Crowd?”

Are we our own worst Enemies

Why is it that when a Heimisher or a yeshivisher shows up in a neighborhood that is mostly made up of Modern Orthodox (for what ever does that mean?), the first thing that is uttered is “There goes the neighborhhood.”
Is it some kind of defense mechanism that the MO’s put on because they are embarrassed about the way they behave and conduct their lives? Are they jealous that the true ben Torah has restraint and self control?
I have found that in many cases when a neighborhood starts to change to the right wing element, the MO s get nuts and look for every reason to find fault with the Chareidi for no other reason than to justify their own existence. For example, the frummie walking home from shul on shabbos passes a shul of Mos. Most of the mos are hanging out side of the shul and davening isn’t even over yet. They are loud and boisterous and barely dressed for shabbos. As the frummie walks by, he can sense all eyes on him and snickering in the air. Here’s the clincher, the Mos get pissed off to the heavens because the frummie didn’t say “Good shabbos”. Go figure that out.

Now in the same shul it is Sunday morning, the Chassidim are carpooled in to the neighborhood to collect tzedaka. The Mos again snicker and get pissed that a smelly 18th century Jew is invading their space. Oh when Mos mother is in the hospital, satmar Bikur Cholim shows up and it’s a G-dsend. Go figure.

When are the Mos going to get the picture that they need to live and let live. I was going to the park one shabbos and saw some Mos in shorts and tshirts playing ball. They got insulted cause I didn’t say good shabbos. Well if I knew you were a jew maybe I would have acknowledged them. You are mad at me? Look at yourselves, just think if you went to greet a queen of a country, would you dress that way? So how about the Shabbos queen shouldn’t she get a royal coronation too?

The funny thing is that there are actually Mo rabbis who needed to establish a collective organization to justify their existence. Well it shut down a few weeks ago. So much for modern orthodoxy, what ever does that mean?

Black or Blue and White

“Eish al machanahu v’eish al diglu” Bamidbar 1:52

Each man in his camp according to his banner. Forgive me for saying this, but the last time the Jews were collectively under one banner or color was when they all wore yellow stars. It really didn’t matter where you came from or what you believed in you pretty much were the same.

It is not like that anymore. In some of the circles that I traveled in when I was single certain questions were asked about a person when looking for a prospective mate. For example, does the boy keep shabbos, kosher or put on tfillin everyday? Does the girl want to cover her hair or go to the mikvah? It may seem silly to ask these things but these are real issues at hand. Not like the color of the table cloth on the table.

However, now days it seems more and more one defines his religious affiliation by the flag he flies. I am not even talking about the type of hat, up or down, the color of the shirt the length of the skirt. I mean the real flag. The one with one star and a few stripes.

More and more people are defining their religion based on the flag of the state of Israel. If it is in the school they are one type of Jew. If a person buys an Israel bond they consider that being a good Jew. On one such encounter I noticed that the Israeli flag was in a union hall of workers in New York City. I inquired about it and was told the jewish members were having a meeting tonight. I asked what does the flag of the government of Israel have to do with being a jew in America. If the Pakistani members had a meeting would they have the flag with a 7-11 on it for the meeting?

My point is has this object of blue and white clouded the reality of so many people as to what it should mean? It is found in almost all non chareidi schools all over the world. It is such a defining object of who people are they tend to forget that there was real religion 58 years ago.

The last Samurai

All things parallel

Over the past few days, the movie The Last Samurai has been aired several times on AMC network. The story is about Emperor’s pursuit of modernization of Japan at the end of the 19th century. Employed by the Japanese government is a washed up Civil War hero who is enlisted to go to Japan to train the emperors army in the way of combat that was used in the western world as it was known at that time.

In addition to the that aspect of the movie, the Emperor and his advisors felt that there is no longer a need for Samurai warriors, who for thousands of years were the knights of feudal Japan, keeping order amongst the city states and warring for the now defunct warlords of the regions.

Under the new Japan, it was now against the law for the thousands of Samurai to walk proudly through the streets wearing their traditional swords. What was once a symbol of pride and strength was now looked upon as shame, disgrace and antiquity.

Our washed up captain, on a routine squabble with the samurai is injured in battle and is taken prisoner by the Samurai and is kept there in their camp until he is well enough to return to his post. Over the course of his stay he has endured the trials and tribulations of being their prisoner or guest as you may see fit. The interesting thing is what he went to destroy as a mercenary he later became the advocate for. The film continues with his internal struggle between right and wrong and eventually leads the Samurai into battle against the forces of modernity. As the only survivor, the captain relates to the Emperor that the Samurai fought with honor and died bravely in the quest to preserve their tradition and culture.

Upon hearing how the battle went, and that all the Samurai we wiped out, the Emperor then realized that it was indeed a great blunder to try to eradicate the Samurai in the pursuit of modernity and later realized that the two could coexist in the new Japan. His words were “We have built railroads that unified the lands, we dress in the clothes of the West, we do business with many countries. But if we cannot remember our past and how we got here then there is no future.”

Every time I watch that movie I can’t help but see the parallels of our own people and culture. Could the Samurai be the rebbes of Europe Devoted to tradition of the avos giving over the mesorah that they got from fathers and so on? Are the Emperors and his advisors the modernists who feel that the old ways just don’t work anymore?

Once the last pre Churban Europe rebbe is gone we will loose an important part of our past. Who will pass on the sword to the next generation? What does the government of Israel have in store for the chariedi brothers who are living the ways of the Samurai?

I’m really to scared to know.