6. As mentioned in point 3, comparing is very different than equating. But now we’re talking about applying. If one subscribes to the belief that Torah is the guidebook HKBH gave us to lead life, of course this book is going to have something to say on everything, and if something isn’t clear, then it is the believer’s Achrayus to try to figure out what the Torah viewpoint is. Once again, Machlokes in this context is okay, but not hatred against a person based on the viewpoint he/she subscribes to. So “adding” self-determinism or emphasis on leisure to the Torah doesn’t really make sense, as the Torah already has something to say about it. It’s just a matter of figuring out what and why. Regarding allowing secular concepts to influence Halachic decision making, they don’t. Feminism will never change Halacha. Ever. Neither will Self-determinism, or any other “secular” concept. You can ask @DBS to clarify Rav Willig’s view on this as well: he is unequivocally opposed to postmodernism and all it’s philosophical ideas, for the stated reason that post modernism does not believe in objective reality, whereas Judaism does. For example, the Torah was given to Moshe Rabeinu on Har Sinai by HKBH. Period. Full stop. That is the end of the story, no debate neccesary; no saying “oh, only some of it was given at Sinai”, or “nah, HKBH didn’t really mean to Aser x or y thing”.
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What I’m referring to is, for example, an MO rabbi bending over backwards to allow for the sake of vacation, dubious kashrus, lack of minyan, or going to Hawaii where there’s s safek chilul shabbos. Or allowing movies, secular books and music because “people need to relax”, even though they are forbidden by at least 2 mitzvos asei, 2 lo saaseh, and several divrei kabalah… easiest of which are al tifnu, lo sasuru, ahavas hashem, moshav leitzim and others mentioned in shulchan arcuh OC 317( i think… it’s the siman where he talks about daber davar issues)
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7. I don’t think this is true either. When I first read George Orwell’s 1984 in 10th grade, I didn’t even know that there were inappropriate scenes in the book, as the school had forbidden them from being taught. Any TV show or movie that I wanted to watch had to be cleared with my parents first. AS mentioned above in no. 1, Rabeim try incredibly hard to wean their Talmidim off of their phones and to have filters installed on them. And yes, it is irresponsible of parents anywhere in any community to not filter their children’s devices. There are indeed standards. They may be lower than in other communities, but they do exist.
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Allowing parents to decide what movies are “kosher” is worse than allowing people to decide what food is kosher just by reading thr ingredients. Are parents experts in what the Torah demands for standards of kedushah? Do you realize what one inappropriate joke or discussion in a movie does to a child(or adult)?
The yeshivos banned TV and movies because the gedolei yisroel understood how harmful they are. One who watches a movie is in a passive, enjoyment mode; he is taking in the entire goyishe world and the perspective of whichever goy he is allowing to direct his thoughts… it’s in that way that movies are far worse than books.
8. Regarding the beginning: Darkei Shalom. If Jews did not stand up for Black people if they are oppressed, how can we expect them to stand up for us if we’re oppressed? And how can we expect government officials to not percieve us as being incredibly selfish if we show we do not care? Regarding the second part, about driving hybrids: If that’s how a person decides to do their Hishtadlus, all power (lol) to them. That doesn’t mean they deny HKBH is in the driver’s seat (lol again)
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We don’t expect them to stand up for us – because they don’t. Their leaders have been among the worst anti semites, including Al sharpton, jesse Jackson, and Louis Farrakhan. Rav yaakov kamenetzky famously said that alligning ourselves with their cause was a big mistake, because zey villen arois nemmen der klalah fun bnei cham; he said this in camp ohr shraga in front of hundreds.
There is a certain measure of hishtadlus involved in mitigating anti semitism; that crosses the line though, when we equate others’ suffering to our own and think that the racism itself is the cause. Re, climate change – we believe firmly that Hashem will cause suffering and catastrophe because He decrees so, be it as a punishment or whatever else. To think that we are destroying the world in any other way besides our sinfulness is bordering on kefirah. Imagine if before the mabul, goyim would say that the flood is coming because of cow’s flatulence. Then Noach would have all his cows and tell people the truth while building his teyva
Should he get rid of his cows so as not to look irresponsible in the eyes of the idiots and kofrim?
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