Feb 2, 2015
wacky Letter to the Editor: redefining "Haredi"
Here is an awesome Letter to the editor that was in this past week's Mishpacha magazine (Hebrew):
The letter is referencing some articles recently in the magazine. Specifically, a couple of weeks ago they described a situation of married children going to their parents houses and "stealing" things from the house, cleaning out the pantry, etc. The second article referenced is one that described the need to properly prepare spiritually before joining the workforce.
The letter reads (my translation):
I want with my letter to connect between two articles you published in the previous edition of the magazine. The interview with the lawyer Gottlieb and the article with the solutions for the sorry phenomenon of children taking and taking from their parents without them putting an end to it. The breaking point of the solution for the problem of the children can be found in the second article, in which Gottlieb testifies to the spiritual danger awaiting people who are about to go out and on the workforce without being properly prepared. Meaning, the poverty would be perpetuated, as well as the becoming a burden on the parents.
This paradox has raised many thoughts, and we even raised it in a thought group I participated in, and I want to share with the readers the conclusions we arrived at.
In my opinion, in the reality of life today each individual and every family must make a decision about their personal identity. I will explain: it is very clear that the desires of the world and of life according to the norms are not options for one who chooses a Haredi lifestyle. If previously we lived a life of "also this and also that", there was also parnassa (due to payments and subsidies of sorts) and it was also possible to safeguard the strict definition of "harediyut", those days are long gone. Today someone who wants to be completely Haredi, like it once was, cannot want to also integrate into the general world, cannot be integrated into the discussion that sees parents and children living from one account as a negative thing.
Yes! The Haredi children take form their parents! yes, it is difficult for the parents! But if it is done by choice because they want that "harediyut" life, as it once was, that is the price they have to pay today!
What can you do: the price that needs to be paid today for the product that is called "to be Haredi" is much higher today. Somebody who that doesn't work for him, somebody who has a different definition of harediyut, somebody who is willing to buy a different "product" - can talk about integration. But, that is not the same harediyut as that of those who by choice prefer a world in which the parents are crashing economically because their children are completely dedicated to Torah.
It should be noted that this analysis is not a statement of what is good or bad, it is just a statement of the facts.
Wow! In order to be haredi today, one must embrace the lifestyle of children forever living off their parents.If you think any differently, you cannot be Haredi. This is definitely a new definition of Haredi.
This is one of the wackiest "Letters to the Editor" I have seen in a while...
The letter is referencing some articles recently in the magazine. Specifically, a couple of weeks ago they described a situation of married children going to their parents houses and "stealing" things from the house, cleaning out the pantry, etc. The second article referenced is one that described the need to properly prepare spiritually before joining the workforce.
The letter reads (my translation):
I want with my letter to connect between two articles you published in the previous edition of the magazine. The interview with the lawyer Gottlieb and the article with the solutions for the sorry phenomenon of children taking and taking from their parents without them putting an end to it. The breaking point of the solution for the problem of the children can be found in the second article, in which Gottlieb testifies to the spiritual danger awaiting people who are about to go out and on the workforce without being properly prepared. Meaning, the poverty would be perpetuated, as well as the becoming a burden on the parents.
This paradox has raised many thoughts, and we even raised it in a thought group I participated in, and I want to share with the readers the conclusions we arrived at.
In my opinion, in the reality of life today each individual and every family must make a decision about their personal identity. I will explain: it is very clear that the desires of the world and of life according to the norms are not options for one who chooses a Haredi lifestyle. If previously we lived a life of "also this and also that", there was also parnassa (due to payments and subsidies of sorts) and it was also possible to safeguard the strict definition of "harediyut", those days are long gone. Today someone who wants to be completely Haredi, like it once was, cannot want to also integrate into the general world, cannot be integrated into the discussion that sees parents and children living from one account as a negative thing.
Yes! The Haredi children take form their parents! yes, it is difficult for the parents! But if it is done by choice because they want that "harediyut" life, as it once was, that is the price they have to pay today!
What can you do: the price that needs to be paid today for the product that is called "to be Haredi" is much higher today. Somebody who that doesn't work for him, somebody who has a different definition of harediyut, somebody who is willing to buy a different "product" - can talk about integration. But, that is not the same harediyut as that of those who by choice prefer a world in which the parents are crashing economically because their children are completely dedicated to Torah.
It should be noted that this analysis is not a statement of what is good or bad, it is just a statement of the facts.
Wow! In order to be haredi today, one must embrace the lifestyle of children forever living off their parents.If you think any differently, you cannot be Haredi. This is definitely a new definition of Haredi.
This is one of the wackiest "Letters to the Editor" I have seen in a while...
------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel
------------------------------------------------------
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Related Posts
I'm not sure what you mean by "wacky" but I think this letter accurately portrays the state of affairs. If you choose to be machmir to fullest in every way you will not be able to go to a university (secular studies, co-ed), work in a typical workplace (co-ed), have a normal job (internet) etc. So yes, if you choose to be this kind of "Chareidi" then you cannot have it all. Like the writer said, it's just a statement of facts not a value judgment.
ReplyDeleteit is more than that. he is saying that if you choose otherwise, if you choose to live from separate accounts, if you choose to go to work, you are choosing to not be haredi any longer. Being haredi is no longer defined as liostening to the gedolim, as it was most recently defined, or the previous broader definition of trying to do what Hashem wants, but it means accepting in advance that you must be poor and you must live off your parents (or that your kids will have to live off of you), and that si just the way it is.
ReplyDeletesince the funding sources [internal and external] are becoming more limited, even the premise of children living off of parents will be harder, since parents too will have no visible means of support
ReplyDeleteIn theory, this can only last one generation .. because if you're living off your parents, what are *YOUR* kid living off of?
ReplyDeletethe grandparents, of course!
DeleteOkay, two generations. People die, you know :-)
Delete