WELCOME!!!
Welcome to my blog!
I am a graduate of the yeshiva system. I daven with a minyan 3 times daily, I try my best to be courteous, well-mannered and even-tempered, I learn Torah every day, I almost never use any objectionable language, I am involved in all sorts of chessed and kiruv, I am constantly working on myself and looking to grow, and have a strong commitment to serving H-shem to the best of my abilities. Overall, I try my best to encompass all that I believe a ben-torah should be... yet I am often viewed as a misfit by many members of the Brooklyn/Lakewood yeshiva community.
Why?
I wear colored shirts, attend a rigorous graduate school program, read the newspaper, follow current events, greet people in the street, and keep an open mind.
Over the years, I have had a very hard time coming to terms with the increasing emphasis that the Brooklyn/Lakewood yeshiva world has placed on external nuances. In their attempt to make a strong shift to what they perceive as being "the right" or "frummer", it seems as if the Brooklyn/Lakewood yeshiva world has gotten caught up in a few meaningless details and lost sight of more important things and the "big-picture".
Why has the yeshiva world gotten so caught up in a few meaningless details while neglecting some of our most basic and important principles and values?
Should a guy who only wears starched white shirts and dress pants but isn't respectful to others be held in higher regard then someone who always conducts himself like a true gentleman, but does not confine himself to wearing only white shirts during the week?
Should one who dons a black hat but contaminates his daily discourse with swear-words and profanities be considered more "frum" than someone who does not own a black hat but never utters an inappropriate word?
Is it always better for EVERYONE to enroll in yeshiva full-time (full-time usually means 3 full sedarim a day), rather than go to school &/or pursue a career while being "koveiah itim"?
In creating this blog, I hope to share and receive feedback on my frustration with a Brooklyn/Lakewood yeshiva system and world that seems to be increasingly emphasizing external display over internal sincerity.
I am a graduate of the yeshiva system. I daven with a minyan 3 times daily, I try my best to be courteous, well-mannered and even-tempered, I learn Torah every day, I almost never use any objectionable language, I am involved in all sorts of chessed and kiruv, I am constantly working on myself and looking to grow, and have a strong commitment to serving H-shem to the best of my abilities. Overall, I try my best to encompass all that I believe a ben-torah should be... yet I am often viewed as a misfit by many members of the Brooklyn/Lakewood yeshiva community.
Why?
I wear colored shirts, attend a rigorous graduate school program, read the newspaper, follow current events, greet people in the street, and keep an open mind.
Over the years, I have had a very hard time coming to terms with the increasing emphasis that the Brooklyn/Lakewood yeshiva world has placed on external nuances. In their attempt to make a strong shift to what they perceive as being "the right" or "frummer", it seems as if the Brooklyn/Lakewood yeshiva world has gotten caught up in a few meaningless details and lost sight of more important things and the "big-picture".
Why has the yeshiva world gotten so caught up in a few meaningless details while neglecting some of our most basic and important principles and values?
Should a guy who only wears starched white shirts and dress pants but isn't respectful to others be held in higher regard then someone who always conducts himself like a true gentleman, but does not confine himself to wearing only white shirts during the week?
Should one who dons a black hat but contaminates his daily discourse with swear-words and profanities be considered more "frum" than someone who does not own a black hat but never utters an inappropriate word?
Is it always better for EVERYONE to enroll in yeshiva full-time (full-time usually means 3 full sedarim a day), rather than go to school &/or pursue a career while being "koveiah itim"?
In creating this blog, I hope to share and receive feedback on my frustration with a Brooklyn/Lakewood yeshiva system and world that seems to be increasingly emphasizing external display over internal sincerity.
posted by The Unorthodox Yeshiva Guy at 11:29 AM
69 comments
