Monday, June 24, 2013

#klalyisrael #yiddishkeit is not trending online

In today's era of social media any event that takes place is not only measured by the magnitude or success of the event itself but is also measured by how it trends on Twitter or how it ranks on other social media sites. Nik Wallenda, walked over the grand canyon on a tightrope, yet the media kept on reporting how it was trending number one on Twitter. as if the feat in itself is only as big as the rank on twitter.

 Many of the frum bloggers spending their time online, blogging, twittering etc..  don't get the real picture or feel the pulse of klal yisrael. You get caught up in  the negativity and formulate a unrealistic pulse of the frum torah community. The picture of klal yisrael painted online, is bleak and black. Issues of molestation, abuse, kids at risk, shidduch crisis, bizuy gedolim dominate the conversations. One gets the impression that everything out there is bad, that we are doomed and the Rabbanim are not doing enough.

 Yiddishkeit, is not live or trending online, it is vibrant, in the families raising children al derech hatorah, its in the yeshivos hakedoshos, its in the shuls, in the hearts and minds of klal yisrael.
 To get the real feel of klal yisrael you will not find or capture it online. Go outside look around at the thousands of yeshiva bochurim learning in their respected yeshivos. Witness and partake in the many simchos that are taking place as young couples begin the journey of building their bayis neeman. That's where klal yisrael is alive. Yes there are issues and challenges to be dealt with and they are being dealt with. 

For some reason the frum blogs, commenter's and tweeterrs, never miss an opportunity to champion their cause as those who are out for the tzaros of klal yisrael. If there is an asifa or a siyum hashas its not good enough, they tweet " we need asifas for victims of abuse". Why don't the Rabbis do this and that. It seems some of these people enjoy the attention they get from championing an emotional cause and wont let any other positive event or thing take place without their constant negativity drawing attention to themselves more so than to the cause they represent. As we approach the Three weeks lets go out and get a reel feel temperature and feel and see the beauty of klal Yisrael. 

4 comments:

  1. I remember back in the 1960's in the US, at the time of the great strife due to the War in Vietnam and the racial confict people made the same complaint you make here and that they were tired of hearing the endless lita,ny of problems in the media. A newspaper decided one day only to print "good news". Readers said they didn't like it, that it reminded them of Soviet newspapers like Pravda and they weren't interested in the newspaper continuing this.
    Obviously, people who are part of the religious community appreciate the good things it represents, they wouldn't be a part of it otherwise. However, maybe those you are criticizing here feel that the problems they are discussing are not getting a fair hearing in the larger community, especially in the official media. While it is true that there is a difference between constructive and destructive criticism, simply sweeping problems under the carpet can lead to a problem ulcerating and becoming much worse in the future. A fair balance needs to be found, but censorship or cover-ups are ultimately self-defeating.

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  2. Replies
    1. Now I understand why the Chofetz Chaim cautions against praising people...there will always be someone who says that they are not so great...

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