No place stagnates really – life is about change. Life is about adapting to change. With change comes both positives and negatives.
Now Lakewood is not my ideal community, but it is a great place for many people. My sister and her family moved there because my brother in law got a job nearby. They aren’t part of the yeshiva, but they follow the rules and laws of Lakewood. They got a “heter” to have internet in their home. They are 100% tzanua (not that they wouldnt be out of lakewood); they have excellent middot; they personally don’t drive fancy cars or have a fancy house – they are just wonderful frum people who need a place to live. They send their kids to one of the newer schools which is closer to their hashkafa. Hey, at least they aren’t “polluting” the other schools with their kids right?
“and have completely different priorities than those who associate themselves with the Yeshivah and consider themselves serious bnei Torah.”
I think this is what sums up the letter best – they consider THEMSELVES true bnei Torah and not others. There are many paths to Hashem as true Bnei Torah, and sitting and learning full time is only one of them. Its times like this that always remind me of how good we have it in America – the more anti-semitism there is, the more we band together. The less there is, the more divided we are.