Reply To: Ahavas Yisrael for those in YU/the MO community (Ask me anything)

BSD

Oooooookay… This has become a gehenom-hole… I opened this thread because, in my naivete, I believed that the rift–at least within the residents of the coffee room–could have been somewhat bridged between the MO community and that of the Yeshivish if given proper level-headed exchange of ideas. However, I was greeted with utter disbelief as a saw (I read through every single post [perhaps why it took so long @coffee adict]) the anger and passion that is behind some of these posts. I had intended for level-headed discussion and to prove that our similarities far outweigh our differences, and was instead met with anger and seeming hatred (baggage or otherwise @common saychel). I am in utter disbelief that Jews can talk this way about each other. Having a disagreement is absolutely okay and necessary, but to be so biting and hateful is just simply uncalled for. The clear Siman of this is that I asked for questions, not for attacks, and pretty much all I got were attacks. Essentially, my argument is not to justify the modern orthodox outlook–of course, any strongly halachically-minded Jew (myself included) would have their objections–but rather to attempt to maybe, just maybe, dis-spell some stereotypes and create some common ground of understanding and acceptance. The most poinient example of this was the story @Puttinginmy2cents cited about the secular cab driver (I think it’s in a Magid book somewhere…): no matter how far from our Tatteh in Himmel some of our brethern may be, that does not give any one of the other brothers/sisters the right to write them off. Most of the issues in the MO community are the cause of ignorance, not malignant violations of Halacha; think of it as a Tinok SheNishba situation of sorts (Chas VeShalom, I am NOT calling the MO community Tinokos SheNishbeu). Most of all, I wanted to convey that which @Avi K had tried to: drop the labels, people! The only label that truly matters is Ben Shel HaKadosh Baruch Hu or not. Treat everyone with respect, even if you disagree (and you may even be right!), and perhaps maybe–just maybe– our Gzar Din this Rosh HaShana will be one of Geula Sheleima… In the state erm… I mean land of Israel, of course…