Today's FSotD goes to MK Rabbi Dov Lipman for creating an uproar in the media..



As of this writing, the status update has received 219 comments, along with being the source of a number of articles in the haredi media and attacks in online forums.

Among all the comments, mostly comments attacking him for the idea he floated, MK Lipman added a response of his own:

I am very happy to see that a serious discussion about this idea has emerged, even if you disagree. Regarding those who asked about MK's doing this during the long Knesset recess, I can only speak for myself - I am at work every day even during the recess and I have begun exploring ways to volunteer even when not on recess. To those who were concerned about these seniors losing money, I would never consider anything which would mean less pay for them. To those who thought I was attacking Haredim, I did not think for a second about just Haredim and was thinking about yeshiva boys from all backgrounds. To those who asked why yeshiva boys and not others, I feel that all yeshiva boys should be doing chesed in an official manner and vacation time is a perfect time for that. To those who asked why I did not stop to help, I actually did but did not think it was right to include that in the post. Finally, I was not criticizing anyone at all but sharing a thought and idea I had to elicit feedback and I have learned a lot from the feedback.

I think this is a non-issue. Nobody is volunteering to do other people's jobs, and the street cleaners would probably be more worried that they are about to be replaced than appreciative for a break if someone came along and told them to take a few weeks off. This is not a solution to anything. If yeshiva bochurim, or anybody else, want to volunteer, or if the government wants to push them to, there is no shortage of wonderful chessed organizations in which they can volunteer, whether it is medical-related organizations, whether it is charitable (help the needy) organizations, or assistance with the elderly or a myriad of others in which each person could find his appropriate place. Suggesting they randomly go over to someone and offer to do their job for them is just silly and is a distraction from real issues and solutions.

Even more amazing about the status update above is that he saw street cleaners! in Bet Shemesh! He should have taken a picture to record the historic moment! Maybe he should have even said the bracha of shehechiyanu!