I think that some Jews have a need to label other Jews, because they identify with a specific hashkafa, and want to recognize others sharing that hashkafa. I don’t think that in and of itself it is a bad thing. It becomes bad when people use the labels to exclude others or deride them. But I know that I personally feel more comfortable when in an environment consisting of Modern Orthodox machmir Jews who see nothing wrong in sitting at a mixed table at a simcha (though there should eb a mechitzah for dancing purposes), than when I am with a more Litvishe, yeshivish crowd. I am friendly to everyone I meet (or at least I try to be), but my preference is what it is. Sometimes the labels are necessary, in order to ensure that shidduchim are not being redd to people who have nothing in common. Sometimes the labels are meaningless, because different people understand things in non-identical ways. What I call modern frum, may not be what you call modern frum. You might feel it is a woman who wears pants, or a man who wears a knit kippah. I might simply mean a girl who covers her hair after marriage, davens everyday, but is college and post-grad educated, and wants the same in her husband. Everything is relative and very subjective.
Menu