One Old Man’s Story: “Why I’m Not Religious” January 1, 2007

An excerpt from a story I shared on a thread on Yeshivat MySpace:

A particular family I am very close with in Brooklyn lived next door to this old non-frum lady and her husband (who passed away, lving her alone in the house eventually). They once tried to reach out to this lady and her husband. The husband tells the story of why he’s not frum.

Once he tried to go to Yom Kippur when he was little. He was very proud of himself, having gotten all ready for shul by himself after school. He had on a dress shirt and tie &c… but no jacket or hat.

The gabbai told him that he could not daven in the shul as he was not dressed appropriately, and his father, seeing the gabbai about to throw his son out, goes to his son and says, “Are you giving the gabbai trouble? Go home and put on some proper clothes!”

His heart sank, and until the day he died, he did not keep one Shabbos or go into a shul again for a high holiday.

Do gabbaim at shuls like that REALLY think they are doing k’lal Yisra’el a service by requiring a DRESS CODE to talk to G-d? And, we know, things like jackets and hats &c are chumros, whereas prayer is a MITZVA and you’re not supposed to stop Jews from DOING MITZVOS! (isn’t that supposed to be basic to 99.9% of Jews?)

Just had to share that — not even necessarily as a rant, I just thought that this particular man’s story should be out there. If it even impacts one person’s decision, then this story has done a service, and hopefully in the merit of someone else not being turned away from prayer, his soul should get hooked up in the Next World.

A DovBear Rant That Deserves Repetition and Clarification December 27, 2006

Were the indefatigable DovBear not observant, I would probably have looked askance at his recent rant blog, and maybe even accused him of being prejudiced against Chassidim. DovBear, however, is an Orthodox blogger who I think, like me, would like to see the en masse return of the Jewish populace to the ideals and way of life of the Torah it holds dear.

In his reprise of his article “Why Does DovBear rant?” he makes a stark statement:

It means that a certain old, and very good style of Orthodox Judaism has been murdered; yet another victim of the Eastern European Jewish tsunami.

Jigga wha…? Victim of the Eastern European…tsunami?? As the offense level began to raise itself from orange and started to redden, I continued through the article and realized — DovBear is not only on point, he’s quite right — but with a small caveat.
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Dati Rabbis Use SMS Messaging For Torah — Extensively November 27, 2006

From the frum news source Vos Iz Neias:

Rabbi Shlomo Aviner, writes and receives an average of no less than 3,000 cellphone text (SMS) messages a month. Almost all are questions of halacha, to which Aviner responds in short, permitted or forbidden, without giving the reason.

The questions vary: Is it permissible to prepare tehina on Shabbat? Only if it is watery, Aviner responds.

‪Can I have physical contact with my three-year-old niece? Up to age nine is the answer.

Can one steal from an Arab, who probably stole one’s merchandise? No, stealing from a thief is prohibited.

Ultra-Orthodox rabbis prohibit the use of SMS even for secular purposes.

I do use SMS, though I do see the danger in its usage. However, one can do nothing but laud Rabbi Aviner — his text message, I’m sure, to some Jew somewhere, meant the difference between observance and sin. An SMS is often obtainable where regular cell phone reception is too weak to make a call.

Perhaps the SMS also reaches neshamos — souls — unreachable by “normal” means.