The real deal

I was having this conversation over Shabbat. A lot of us have a false sense of security. We say things like never again and it could never happen here. But unfortunately, that just is not true. We have become too comfortable in Galut and G-d is doing what He always does when we get too accustomed to our cushy lives. He shakes things up. He makes us wake up and notice. There is  no city, state, country we are safe. There is no where we our protected from our enemies. The people that hate us...they are everywhere. Some are better at hiding it than others. The worst of it is the ones that our indoctrinated, and brainwashed. The school children who are raised with hate in their hearts.They really believe that we are evil and it is their duty to destroy us. If we saw the propaganda that they saw...who knows what we would be compelled to do? 

I was discussing with a friend about what would happen if Gd forbid we have a repeat of the holocaust in our times. It isn't so far fetched. Would our generation be able to survive it? Is our emunah strong enough? It seems to be a recurring theme, that the majority of the "ultra" religious community seems to have taken a superficial take on Judaism. You can seem very frum  on the outside and that is all that matters. 

I went to Bnos Chava for seminary. While on the surface that seems to be a huge mistake on so many levels...There definitely were a lot of challenging moments. But I am so glad  I went. I learned so much about the world outside of my small community. I learned what it meant to go to a Bais Yaakov in Brooklyn. I learned really fast that wearing my hair in pigtail braids= not good, two days later wear a pony tail, some pearls an argyle sweater everyday and i had the staff gushing at how much I've grown and changed. It is all about the externals. Nothing about who I am, how I connect to Gd, what my middot are. This was and is not unique to that one school. This is happening everywhere. 

We are so focused on looking the part, that we forget to work on the real issues. We don't discuss emunah. We don't ask our questions because Gd forbid we won't get good shidduchim. It all just becomes superficial. Another accessory to help us fit into our communities. Judaism becomes a very expensive habit. So much so, that once it is no longer affordable, or cool...you can just drop it and move on to the next fad because what is holding you to this one? If there is no deeper connection, no love, no emunah in the power of the Creator of the World...why bother? Indeed we see this too often, that our people are just living this life because its convenient and what they have grown up with and all their friends are Jewish...but does it mean anything? I would venture to say not. 

This teenage girl I was talking to was complaining...I didn't ask to be born into this! No one asked me if I wanted this..and she is right, we weren't asked to be privileged to have this incredible gift and responsibility. 

you were born to privilege and with that comes specific obligations

We have to teach Judaism as just that: both a responsibility and privilege. Instead it has become a set of rules that we have to follow, A game of keeping up appearances. Kids are remarkably good at picking up at the insincerity of it. The ingenuity that seems to pervade most of our communities. Why give up so much when its not even real? and honestly, its hard to answer because they are right.