From http://ohr.edu/yhiy/article.php/3823
[begin article]
Imported Influence
For the week ending 21 February 2009 / 27 Shevat 5769
by Rabbi Mendel Weinbach
When our ancestors were promised a "Greater Eretz Yisrael" which this week's Torah portion describes as stretching "from the Sea of Reeds to the Sea of the Philistines (the Mediterranean), and from the Wilderness until the River (the Euphrates), they were warned against being influenced by those nations they allowed to remain in their land "lest they cause you to sin against Me."
In our own day this influence is not limited to those dwelling among us. Modern technology has created a "global village" in which foreign cultures invade the minds and hearts of Jews living in their own land.
This threat to the Jewishness of the Jewish state can only be overcome by a return to the Torah values which have always distinguished us as a holy people worthy of enjoying Israel forever.
[end article]
Heil Weinbach!
19 comments:
And the problem with this is?
I don't know if you've ever been to Israel but I've been there over and over again for many, many years and the changes it's gone through have been very disappointing to me. Every time I go, a little more of what made the country "different", not in a religious way always but just an Israeli way, is gone.
Store chains that were distinctly Israel have been replaced by European and North American ones. Whereas once you could get square pizza from Rimini, now you have to get the same old slices from Pizza Hut. Once upon a time you could go to the local hardware stuff to pick up stuff. Now it's Home Deport down at the tzomet.
The special things that made Israel different are slowly being eroded and the country is becoming more of "the same old thing" and I think that is a shame.
Yes, Garnel.
It's all about the pizza shops.
Awwww, poor wittle OTD come out of his hidey hole to insult the nasty Garnel? Poor wittle OTD, can't take it but loves to dish it out. Can't spell h-y-p-o-c-r-i-t-e either because they didn't teach it to him in that yeshiva he hated so much.
Garnel it's called globalization, and people vote with their wallets on what companies should be in existance and which shouldn't.
As scary as it sounds:
> it's called globalization, and people vote with their wallets on what companies should be in existance and which shouldn't.
I agree 100% with this.
Look, here's the metaphor: you're running a small business, selling a specific product. It's a great product and benefits from your personal hands-on attitude.
Along comes the global multinational with a similar product. More mass produced, less "high end" but easier to obtain (they have a webpage, you don't) and much cheaper. Who's going to sell more units? Whose business is going to go downhill? Does that make your product suddenly defective? No, it's still the same but because you've been outmaneouvred your business suffers.
So to survive you have to develop a new business model. You have to start up a webpage for on-line orders, you have to figure a way to either cut production costs without sacrificing quality or to justify why your product is preferable despite the higher cost. If you do that, your business with thrive.
And that's what Chareidism is doing so wrong nowadays. They're like the business that refuses to put up the webpage, take on-line orders and improve their salesmanship of their product but still expect you to buy it.
And the funny thing is that the charedim in America have an easier time because there it seems to be less ossur than in E"Y...
Garnel:
A great man once said "if you're going to stand in the electronic equivalent of the public square and shout out your views, which is what a blog generally is, you're going to attract dissenting opinions."
What do you want from me?
I want you to stop blaming me for all your insecurities and self-loathing.
I want you to stop lying and accusing me publicly of things I've not done.
Like war crimes. WTH?
In short, I want you to leave me alone and get on with your life instead of following me around and then screaming when I respond to your accusations.
I think these are fair and reasonable requests.
Garnel, your request of OTD is mostly unreasonable. Stating your view on the free market of ideas (the blogosphere) is beyond the personal sphere and is thus open to response by anyone despite what the reason for the response is.
Accusing you of war crimes might be over the top, but you really did equate him to the nazis for dissenting from orthodox judaism on the blogosphere.
Oh come on SJ, first of all I didn't equate him to a Nazi. That's an example of a successful lie that he's repeated over and over. To recap, he noted that there were many religious villians. I responded by pointing out there are many atheist villians, amongst them the Nazis. Go back to the early days of his blog and check this out.
Secondly, I don't care about his personal opinions and he has every right to state them. I do care that he keeps falsely accusing me and I want him to stop. The only times I've ever bothered "attacking" him was when he went after me first.
And I think that's very reasonable.
>> Oh come on SJ, first of all I didn't equate him to a Nazi.
Not overtly.
Garnel:
You're mishuga.
Stop interrupting, OTD. The adults are talking.
>>> Oh come on SJ, first of all I didn't equate him to a Nazi.
> Not overtly.
No, let's be honest for once. I didn't equate him at all with a Nazi. I was rebutting his claim that evil is only found in religion. My point was that it can be found anywhere, including in the secular culture he had just adopted. I think that's a very valid point. I'm not saying there aren't religious villians but I am insisting that the grass isn't greener on the other side and I provided examples.
Okay listen, enough with this.
Right here, right now, on this your blog, SJ, I am extending my cyber-hand in a gesture of peace to OTD. I'm tired of this sniping and fighting. I mean him no ill will and would like to call an end to this.
OTD, you go your way, I'll go mine and we'll agree to disagree and not fight anymore.
What say you?
I say we respect each other's right to free speech (no, not only when they have you in a chokehold--even when they're new and vulnerable).
When you can prove to me that you're no longer a predator (and while you're at it, prove to me that you respect dissenting viewpoints), I may consider it.
>>> No, let's be honest for once. I didn't equate him at all with a Nazi. I was rebutting his claim that evil is only found in religion.
Garnel, you accused me of stuff that isn't true, i.e. i'm blogging because of a girl.
> I say we respect each other's right to free speech
I've been saying that all along.
> When you can prove to me that you're no longer a predator
So your answer to my offer is "no"?
Go check your records. Have I bothered you lately other than when you've attacked me?
> Garnel, you accused me of stuff that isn't true, i.e. i'm blogging because of a girl.
Tee-hee, yeah, got me there SJ. And that has what to do with OTD?
> When you can prove to me that you're no longer a predator
>>So your answer to my offer is "no"?
Most definitely.
Well I tried. So much for your claim to superior morality.
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