mikehall and tahini, I’m with you. I think being embarrassed by such a thing shows that we truly are one nation and care about each other’s actions, even though we may dress differently and have different ideals. It is level we should all strive to be at.
We should also feel the embarrassment and hurt that the little girl felt herself. We should cry for her. We should be able to feel another Jew’s pain. And this is regardless whether the Jew in question is more or less religious than ourselves. We are one people, and when one of us suffer, especially at the hands of another Jew, we should feel the person’s pain, embarrassment, and suffering.
This applies to any type of suffering a Jew may be going through. If a Jewish child’s parents get divorced, or a Jew goes “off the derech”, or a Jewish parent looses his or her job, WE should feel their pain and suffering. WE should be doing something about it. If we dare say “Well, I’m a such and such type of Jew, so I don’t need to help him because he’s another type”, we are single handedly bringing more sinas chinam into the world, damaging another person through ignoring their cries for help, lowering our level of closeness to G-d, and lengthening our exile.