Channuka Thoughts

Ever since I published "Rabbi Melamed on the Dangers of Internet" I wanted to write another post on the subject.

The post would deal with your average religious (not ultra-Orthodox) family in Israel. They invest very heavily in their children. The won't send their kids to the regular State run religious schools because the level of these schools is not high enough for them. Instead the children get sent to private schools, and the parents end up spending a lot of money on tuition. Remember that we are talking about a religious families that are often very large!

Now these kids come home from school and what do they find in their home? They find cable television and unfiltered internet. Half an hour in front of either one of them is enough to destroy all of the midot tovot and yirat shamaim that their parents, rabbis and teachers work so hard to implant within them.

One of these days perhaps I will write a post about this. In the meantime this is something to think about as you light the candles.

Unfair Characterization Of American Jewry

Here:

The even better news is that they are shortening their trip and returning to Eretz Yisrael after only five days because my daughter says that the people there only talk about money and she feels bored. She also complains that the fruit has no taste, she is afraid to find insects in the salad, the buildings remind her of pictures of Rome, there are churches wherever you look, and Orthodox women walk around in public without covering their hair, as if they were single girls.

I think that Fishman went a little too far this time.

Tzvi Fishman On The Modern Orthodox

From his post Oscar Who?:

In honor of the occasion, I am posting an article that I wrote for IsraelNN a few months ago regarding the evils of movies. If you want to save your souls, don’t watch the Oscars tonight. If you want to be a holy Jew, you have to work on it. You can’t have the best of both worlds, as the Modern Orthodox like to believe. Holiness and impurity don’t go together. All of those actresses may look lovely in their sparkling, low-cut gowns, but is it worth it to frizzle your brain? When you pollute your eyes with things you shouldn’t see, the soul which sits in your brain is polluted as well. When that happens, your spiritual radar is smashed, and for example, the Land of Israel, becomes just a nice place to visit, like a Disneyland for Jews, and you think you can be just as serious a Jew in Beverly Hills, or Monsey.

So take it from someone who’s been there. Don’t watch the Oscars. Don’t watch movies at all. Do your brain a favor and study Torah instead.

I think he has a good point!