Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Top Twenty List of Things Wrong With Today's Orthodox Culture

Heavy black felt hats, and fur hats, in warm climates, bring mockery to Judaism and are unhealthy to wear;

Metzitzah b’peh is dangerous;

Jewish sexual abusers should not be taken to rabbinic courts, but to the police;

College education makes one appreciate G-d, and helps earn a livelihood;

Kollel is a waste of time and money for many participants, and drains limited resources from k-12 chinuch;

Excessively long and untrimmed beards are ugly - using a scissors is permissible;

Wearing a tallis on the street, and other ostentatious showings of religiosity, is disrespectful to our American neighbors;

Stealing from the goyim is a chillul Hashem;

Zionism is good;

Fanaticism in kashrus is bad, both Pesach and all year round, because it creates walls between orthodox Jews. Kashrus is meant to bring Jews together in golus.

Speaking fractured English, with an exaggerated Jewish accent, and throwing in a lot of yeshivish talk, brings mockery to Judaism;

Daas Torah is not a mitzvah, not one of the 13 ikrim of the Rambam;

After Rav Moshe, Rav Yaakov, and the Rav, there are no more gedolim today;

Insistence on excessive modesty for women and men, and separation of the sexes, is unhealthy, and brings mockery to Judaism;

Excessive condemnation of loshon hora, not based on halacha, is unhealthy, as it limits people to air legitimate grievances, and seek sensible solutions;

Unacceptance of modern technology, such as the Internet, is not smart, and brings mockery to Judaism;

Constant harping on old debates with maskilim, Reform, Conservatives, Zionism, the Synagogue Council of America, is a waste of time, and counterproductive;Bickering with modern orthodoxy, and disrespecting their leaders, is foolish;

Excessive Torah learning and prayer, at the cost of earning a livehlihood to support one's family, is physically and spiritually unhealthy.

Snobbery against Jews who don't look, act and think like you, is antithetical to Torah Judaism.

Bans are foolish, are disregarded in any event, and breed disprespect for halacha and rabbis.

Posted By Rodef Emes

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

R' Rodef! This is truth to its core, through & through, I agree with every word you said.

Anonymous said...

What about paying double for sour 'Cholev Yisroel'?

Anonymous said...

Glad to hear from you, LVF, and thanks for the kind words!

Anonymous said...

Some of these points are a bit difficult to defend and are perhaps a bit exagerated. But, not a bad rant after all. Though Reb LVF has given u higher points then I.

Hey LVF, why don't you author a piece of your own literary masterwork on this site? After all, werent you awarded some high honors by UOJ himself a while ago?