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MommyZ




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Sep 14 2010, 10:22 pm
Chavelamomela wrote:
I have so many thoughts on this thread...my head is spinning.

I always approach the issue of hashkafa as not about levels of observance, but what areas are stressed more than others. I find that when it comes to certain "groups" there are those that stress and emphasize certain mitzvot over others. That doesn't mean the others aren't important, just that sometimes one mitzvah sometimes overshadows others. For example, the Satmar community is well-known for their observance of bikur cholim - they do it better than any other group as a whole. The Lubavich community is renown for its kiruv, the Religious Zionist community is excellent as Mitzvat Yishuv eretz Yisrael, etc, etc.

In general, I find that when you're machmir in one area of mitzvah observance, one tends to wind up being meikil in other areas - so being so machmir in bein adam l'makom often winds up making one maykil in bein adaml'chaveiro.

Sure, as a whole, the MO community may not be as "outwardly" observant as more fervently orthodox grops, but I also find it true that when you strip away the window dressing, people are the same in all groups- you have the "frummies", the slackers, the intellectuals, the social bigs, the ones who do it for the joy, others who hate it al but do it anyway, etc, etc...they're in all communities (my BIL did a study for his doctoral degree in this area of attitudes toward mitzvah observance in various communities and the findings were interesting).

I find, for example, that the MO community as a whole may not be as careful about the specific lines of tzniut that the chareidim follow (though there are surely many people who are very careful about hair covering, dressing modestly in their own way, etc), but there is also emphasis on areas that seem to be overlooked in chareidi communities in general - such as attitudes toward non-Jews, social responsibility, issues that concern not just the frum world, but issues that involve caring for the whole world, our survival as a global community, our responsibility toward our less fortunate (non-Jewish) neighbors, and our relationships with people, not just our relationship toward God.

It is because of that greater emphasis on issues of Bein Adam L'Chaveiro that I find myself personally attracted to that kind of community, whether or not I cover my hair or wear pants, etc.

(And btw...the issue of hair-covering shouldn't be taken so for granted - there is real historical halachic precedence for whole segments of the Jewish community who were Torah observant, but nonetheless, didn't cover their hair - See Rabbi Michael Broyde's 70-page article in one of last-years issues of the Journal of Halacha and Contemporary Society for a thorough analysis of the issues - and although he states clearly that when he is asked if a married woman should cover, he'll unequivocally say that she should, he also is adamant that WE ARE NOT TO JUDGE previous generations who did not keep this halacha, as there is clear halachic precedent for their practice - and he promotes that idea in general, not just about hair-covering, but about kashrut, etc).

The other thought I have about this whole issue is that in general, why is it that when we're confronted with a new idea, some of us respond with "Well, that's new, how can it be permissible????!!!" while others approach with an opposite frame of mind "this is permissible unless there's halachic reasoning for it to be assur" - Halacha, not emotion or "pasht-nisht" approach.

Anyway, I may get flamed for my thoughts, but that's what they are...my musings.


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