It was last year, were some frum papers and magazines have decided to buck a new trend, not advertise any super Sunday related advertisements by Frum establishments. Super bowl related ads have dominated the frum media lately as the great American culture blends and seeps into our camps. The Big game no matter how big it may be, is not our culture and not an event we as frum yidden mark on our calender.
It is surprising that on New Years day, the frum Online Media and papers are full of articles referencing the new year as if Rosh hashana were today. A Heimish Frum news website posted a live link to the party and countdown
in New York's Times square celebrating the New Year. The live TV link was posted right under the word " ב''ה ". The celebration is not a news event but a party not suitable for a frum yid. Have we blurred the lines? is there a red line we don't cross?
A frum Organization published a 2013 "Year in review" publication for its activities coinciding with the secular new year. Is this a time we review our year? is this the time we make resolutions? Yes, as yidden we reflect daily on our lives, but we have Rosh Hashana when we mark our new year.
Thank you for posting this....this is a very important matter The maintainance by the Jewish people of our Jewish calendar is one of the prime factors in maintaining Jewish identity and loyalty to oberservance of the Torah. As Rashi points out, the introduction of the Jewish calendar and the defining of Nisan as the first month of the year are the first mitzvot given to Am Israel.
ReplyDeleteThe religions that broke away from Judaism,,,,Christianity and Islam ,made breaking away from the Jewish calendar and changing the weekly day of rest away from Shabbat first orders of business with them. The Karaites, a Jewish sect who rejected the Oral Torah, also rejected the mainstream Jewish calendar, adopted by the Hacham something like 1800 years ago, a prime symbol of their rejection of the Oral Torah.
Here in Israel, it is legal to use the Jewish calendar in all official business, including writing documents such as checks. As I understand it, Israel is one of the very few countries in the world that does mark January 1 as a national holiday (even non-Christian countries celebrate it) and I am proud of that fact.
You have made a very important point showing how the outside culture, which is becoming more and more inimical to Jewish values (note the increasing attempts by "enlightened countries" to ban basic Jewish observance of mitzvot like kosher shechita and Brit Milah) is increasingly penetrating into even the most supposedly insular Jewish religious communities.
This process of having the outside culture eroding basic Jewish values, even among the most observant is only going to intensify in communities in the Galut (i.e. those outside of Israel). The process is irreversible....modern techonology makes it more and more intrusive and attractive. I hope this will serve as food for tought for those who think their Exilic communities are viable in the long-term.
Its a beforishe passuk: ה' יספור בכתוב עמים. Dont beat yourself up too much...
ReplyDeleteOops-Obviously I meant to say that Israel is one of the few countries that does NOT mark 1 January as a national holiday. Sorry.
ReplyDeleteYou wrote in your post that: "A frum Organization published a 2013 "Year in review" publication for its activities coinciding with the secular new year."
ReplyDeleteTorah Umesorah printed their annual Year In Review, which is a review of the SCHOOL year 5773 (2012-13). I happen to know that they absolutely did NOT print it just recently in order to coincide with the secular new year. It happened that the publishing of the report was delayed for various reasons, and it happened to be printed recently - which led you to believe that it had something to do with the secular year. The contents of the report do not coincide at all with the secular year. Torah Umesorah's activities and its office hours function according to the Jewish calendar, NOT the secular one.
DON'T ASSUME! And please print this post so that the matter can be clarified. Thank you.
Dont assume! which organization the article is referring to.
DeleteI agree in general with this post.
ReplyDeleteI would add, though, that one possible reason for this phenomenon is that RH is a very somber day, the Yom Hadin, and the atmosphere leading up to it is appropriately focused on this. As such, there are various other "year-end" type things which remain, looking for another outlet.
On another note, the contemporary poskim actually discuss this a bit, WRT hilchos maaser kesafim. For those who keep this practice, the caluclation needs to be done on a yearly basis, and it's more convenient for a lot of people to base their calculations of what they earned in a year on the secular year, since they have to file that way for taxes anyway. (From what I know, the poskim say you can use the secular year - or, for that matter, any other "year" of your choosing or invention.)
As a Canadian I've always been fascinated by the Superbowl festivities. I mean, we have Grey Cup Sunday for our football but it's nowhere near the hoopla of the Superbowl.
ReplyDeleteSuperbowl Sunday is a secular American holiday, an excuse to get together, eat chili and talk with friends while some large screen in the background shows the game that only a handful of people are paying attention to. Don't be so hard on it.
Kashering the Superbowl
ReplyDelete