Photo of Mount Sinai from ynetnews.com
I’ve been thinking about Shavuos and how Matan Torah established the Jewish people as one nation with our promise of “na’aseh v’nishma” or “we will do, and we will hear” Hashem’s commandments. Looking at the Jewish people of the 21st century, it’s impossible to see ourselves as one nation. Even among Orthodox Jews, the factions have become so splintered; we are turning against each other. Jews of any other denomination aren’t acknowledged at all, and if they are, only in the most derogatory and dismissive terms. In the words of President Abraham Lincoln, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”
Growing up, all of the synagogue services I attended were Traditional, Conservative, or Reform. Never once did I hear a rabbi speak ill of Jews of different denominations. It was only after I began attending Orthodox services that I ever heard a rabbi speak with derision and scorn about Jews of different denominations. I made a point of seeking out an Orthodox shul whose rabbi did not disparage other Jews from the pulpit.
On a similar note, in the community I belong to, I’ve noticed a disturbing trend among some parents and school administrators. The families who attend the “other schools” are looked down upon.
“I wouldn’t send my son there because the boys play with action figures and watch TV.”
“Have you seen the short uniform skirts the girls wear? Well, it’s no surprise. Have you seen what the mothers wear?”
“That’s the school you send your kids to if you want them to be brainwashed.”
It’s nice to have various schools to choose from. Some schools are a better hashkafic match for a family than others. Maybe there are personal relationships with teachers or administrators that sway a family toward one school or another. Perhaps the academic curriculum or educational philosophy is more appealing at one school over the other. With so many valid reasons for picking a school, why must we justify our decision by putting down the Jews who go to the “other school?”
I believe that this attitude is a trickle-down effect from the top. Just the other week at the Agudah convention, a leading rabbi condemned Reform, Conservative, and Open Orthodox movements, saying that they:
“…were among those who “subvert and destroy the eternal values of our people.” These movements, he said, “have disintegrated themselves, become oblivious, fallen into an abyss of intermarriage and assimilation.”
“They will be relegated,” he added, “to the dustbins of Jewish history.”
It’s a shame that some Orthodox Jews have to put down others to promote their own ideals. If adherents to a certain Orthodox hashkafah believe that theirs is the only true derech, there is no need to disparage other groups. Lead by example and love, and that truth will have a better chance of spreading among the Jewish people, reconnecting us back into one nation.
I wish you all a Chag Sameach!
