How should Orthodox Jews deal with the orthopraxy phenomenon?
Orthopraxy
Started by
KeepCoolNY
, Apr 14 2011 07:55 PM
7 replies to this topic
#2
Rabbi Shapiro
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Posted 15 May 2011 - 05:00 PM
How should Orthodox Jews deal with the orthopraxy phenomenon?
That was the topic of my Shabbos HaGadol Drasha this year. It was long - over 2 hours - and I have just started to upload summarized notes to www.baismedrash.com. You can see it uploaded here.
In short, the answer to your question is, we should take steps to:
(a) Ensure we don't make that very bad choice, by
1) Learning about Judaism (surprisingly, very few frum Jews do this)
2) Making sure we think for ourselves and not letting others do our thinking for us.
(b.) Ensure those who did make that very bad choice do not influence us.
Of course, the big question is how to accomplish all this. That's what took two hours (and I didn't get to say half of what I had to, but it was time for Minchah already).
One thing you should know though - this is not a new phenomenon. There have been Orthopraxic Jews among us for a long time, as our Gedolim have been pointing out for a while already (as part of the Drasha I mentioned that the second of the four sons, who is a Kofer B'Ikar, is still participating in the Seder! Until he opened his mouth, we had no idea he was a Kofer! In other words, he was Orthoprax.)
#4
Rabbi Shapiro
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Posted 15 May 2011 - 08:02 PM
What's orthoprax?
It what they call someone who is part of the frum community - he seems to learn, daven, etc., sends his kids to Yeshivos, but he's a כופר בעיקר - he doesn't believe in Judaism. (Yes, it sounds weird, I know. But they exist.)
#5
Alexander
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Posted 12 October 2011 - 01:54 PM
It what they call someone who is part of the frum community - he seems to learn, daven, etc., sends his kids to Yeshivos, but he's a כופר בעיקר - he doesn't believe in Judaism. (Yes, it sounds weird, I know. But they exist.)
What if such a person recognizes his emunah weakness and tries hard to remedy it with more learning? What else should such a person do? Should he quit observance and only return once emunah is absolute?
#6
Rabbi Shapiro
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Posted 16 October 2011 - 09:03 AM
He should not quit observance. He is obligated in all Mitzvos regardless of his lack of Emunah.
What if such a person recognizes his emunah weakness and tries hard to remedy it with more learning? What else should such a person do? Should he quit observance and only return once emunah is absolute?
What he should do is find out why he should believe. He should finally ask his questions - if his lack of Emunah is due to questions - and get answers. He should also remove all biases and vested interests in not believing. I know that is way easier said than done, but if he really wants to see things straight he cannot expect to do so with a bias. The truth is well worth giving up whatever emotional attachment someone has for falsehood.
#7
smillingirl
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Posted 23 November 2011 - 12:11 AM
I always think that it is weird that I am constantly asking Hashem to help me, but at the same time there are some mitzvos that I totally don't go by, like shabbos, waiting six hours between meat and dairy. Yet there are some things that even though I am mechalel shabos I will not do on Shabbos and there are some mitzvos that I am very careful with.
#8
Rabbi Shapiro
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Posted 23 November 2011 - 08:44 AM
Welcome to the human race, smilingirl.
You are a struggling human being as are we all. And everyone has to fight whatever Yezter Horahs they have at the time. You should be proud of your Mitzvos and keep fighting the good fight to do more. You are perfectly normal, and please bear in mind two things:
1) The Yezter Horah is going to try to convince you that your doing MItzvos is "weird" and inconsistent since you violate others. Then he will try to convince you that doing those Mitzvos is not "you" - that it is not consistent with "who you are". Know that these ideas are tactics of the Satan to try to fool you into going down. The truth is - #1) Life's a battle and winning some while losing others is normal. Shiva yipol tzadik vekam. Please read the Rav Hutner letter, in Hebrew if you can (Pachad Yitzchok Letters #128) - I am reprinting it at the end of this post for you. #2) The Shem MiShmuel says that it is worth coming to this world to do one MItzvah even if the rest of your life you do only Aveiros, because the punishment you get for all those Aveiros, no matter how severe, is worth going through for th reward you will get for that one Mitzvah. It is perfectly normal to do the right thing sometimes and do the wrong thing at other times. We are all growing. All of us. You cannot build Rome in a day. You're doing fine. Keep fighting.
2) Don't let the Yezter Horah get you into an identity crisis where you will think "Am I really a bad person or a good person?" Then you will look at your actions, get confused, and say you can't lead a "double life." This is the Satan's most common "pick-up line" that he uses on innocent teenagers. Your identity is neither "good smilingirl" nor "bad smilingirl" but simply "human being who sometimes does Mitzvos and other times does aveiros because she is a normal struggling human being teenager smilingirl." If anything, your Aveiros are what goes against your natural you, not your MItzvos. But in any case, you are perfectly normal.
And perfectly human. And if it were any other way - if you did not fall 7 times, you would never be able to rise, because only robots don't fall. And robots aren't what Hashem wants.
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From Pachad Yitzchok Letters #128:
… A failing many of us suffer from is that when we consider the aspects of perfection of our sages, we focus on the ultimate level of their attainments. We discuss how they are complete in this or that area while omitting mention of the inner struggles that had previously raged within them. A listener would get the impression that these individuals came out of the hand of their Creator in full-blown form.
Everyone is awed at the purity of speech of the Chofetz Chaim Ztl considering it a miraculous phenomenon. But who knows of the battles, struggles and obstacles, the slumps and regressions that the Chofetz Chaim encountered in his war with the yetzer horah? There are many such examples, to which a discerning individual as yourself can certainly apply the rule.
The result of this failing is that when an ambitious young man of spirit and enthusiasm meets obstacles, falls and slumps, he imagines himself as unworthy of being planted in the house of Hashem”. According to this young man’s fancy, flourishing in the house of Hashem means to repose with calm spirit on “lush meadows” beside “tranquil waters” [Tehillim 23] delighting in the yetzer hatov, in the manner of the righteous delighting in the reflection of the Shechina, with crowns on their heads, gathered in Gan Eden. And at the same time, untroubled by the agitation of the yetzer hora, along the lines of the verse “free among the dead” [Tehillim 88:6].
Know, however, my dear friend, that your soul is rooted not in the TRANQUILITY or the yetzer tov, but rather in the BATTLE of the yetzer tov. And your precious, warm-hearted letter “testifies as one hundred witnesses” that you are a worthy warrior in the battalion of the yetzer tov. The English expression “lose a battle and win a war” applies. Certainly, you have stumbled and will stumble again (a self-fulfilling prophecy is not intended) and in many battles you will fall lame. I promise you, though, that after those losing campaigns you will emerge from the war with the laurels of victory upon your head and with the fresh prey quivering between your teeth. Lose battles but win wars.
The wisest of all men has said “A just man falls seven times and rises again” [Mishlei 24:16]. Fools believe the intent of this verse is to teach us something remarkable-the just man has fallen seven times and yet he rises. But the knowledgeable are aware that the essence of the tzaddik’s rising again is by way of his seven falls. “ ‘And He saw all that he had made and behold, it was very good. “Good’: that is the yetzer tov. ‘Very good’: that is the yetzer horah.” [Breishis Rabah 9].
My cherished one, I clasp you to my heart, and whisper in your ear that had your letter reported on your mitzvos and good deeds, I would have said that I had received a good letter from you. As things stand, with your letter telling of slumps and falls and obstacles, I say that I have received a very good letter from you. Your spirit is storming as it aspires to greatness. I beg of you, do not portray for yourself great men as being as one with their yetzer tov. Picture rather their greatness in terms of an awesome war with every base and low inclination.
When you feel the turmoil of the yetzer within yourself, know that with that feeling you resemble great men far more than with the feeling of deep peace, which you desire. In those very areas where you feel yourself falling most frequently –particularly in those areas- do you have the greatest potential for serving as an instrument of distinction for the honor of Hashem.
(translation by Eliakim Willner)
You are a struggling human being as are we all. And everyone has to fight whatever Yezter Horahs they have at the time. You should be proud of your Mitzvos and keep fighting the good fight to do more. You are perfectly normal, and please bear in mind two things:
1) The Yezter Horah is going to try to convince you that your doing MItzvos is "weird" and inconsistent since you violate others. Then he will try to convince you that doing those Mitzvos is not "you" - that it is not consistent with "who you are". Know that these ideas are tactics of the Satan to try to fool you into going down. The truth is - #1) Life's a battle and winning some while losing others is normal. Shiva yipol tzadik vekam. Please read the Rav Hutner letter, in Hebrew if you can (Pachad Yitzchok Letters #128) - I am reprinting it at the end of this post for you. #2) The Shem MiShmuel says that it is worth coming to this world to do one MItzvah even if the rest of your life you do only Aveiros, because the punishment you get for all those Aveiros, no matter how severe, is worth going through for th reward you will get for that one Mitzvah. It is perfectly normal to do the right thing sometimes and do the wrong thing at other times. We are all growing. All of us. You cannot build Rome in a day. You're doing fine. Keep fighting.
2) Don't let the Yezter Horah get you into an identity crisis where you will think "Am I really a bad person or a good person?" Then you will look at your actions, get confused, and say you can't lead a "double life." This is the Satan's most common "pick-up line" that he uses on innocent teenagers. Your identity is neither "good smilingirl" nor "bad smilingirl" but simply "human being who sometimes does Mitzvos and other times does aveiros because she is a normal struggling human being teenager smilingirl." If anything, your Aveiros are what goes against your natural you, not your MItzvos. But in any case, you are perfectly normal.
And perfectly human. And if it were any other way - if you did not fall 7 times, you would never be able to rise, because only robots don't fall. And robots aren't what Hashem wants.
------------------------------------------------------
From Pachad Yitzchok Letters #128:
… A failing many of us suffer from is that when we consider the aspects of perfection of our sages, we focus on the ultimate level of their attainments. We discuss how they are complete in this or that area while omitting mention of the inner struggles that had previously raged within them. A listener would get the impression that these individuals came out of the hand of their Creator in full-blown form.
Everyone is awed at the purity of speech of the Chofetz Chaim Ztl considering it a miraculous phenomenon. But who knows of the battles, struggles and obstacles, the slumps and regressions that the Chofetz Chaim encountered in his war with the yetzer horah? There are many such examples, to which a discerning individual as yourself can certainly apply the rule.
The result of this failing is that when an ambitious young man of spirit and enthusiasm meets obstacles, falls and slumps, he imagines himself as unworthy of being planted in the house of Hashem”. According to this young man’s fancy, flourishing in the house of Hashem means to repose with calm spirit on “lush meadows” beside “tranquil waters” [Tehillim 23] delighting in the yetzer hatov, in the manner of the righteous delighting in the reflection of the Shechina, with crowns on their heads, gathered in Gan Eden. And at the same time, untroubled by the agitation of the yetzer hora, along the lines of the verse “free among the dead” [Tehillim 88:6].
Know, however, my dear friend, that your soul is rooted not in the TRANQUILITY or the yetzer tov, but rather in the BATTLE of the yetzer tov. And your precious, warm-hearted letter “testifies as one hundred witnesses” that you are a worthy warrior in the battalion of the yetzer tov. The English expression “lose a battle and win a war” applies. Certainly, you have stumbled and will stumble again (a self-fulfilling prophecy is not intended) and in many battles you will fall lame. I promise you, though, that after those losing campaigns you will emerge from the war with the laurels of victory upon your head and with the fresh prey quivering between your teeth. Lose battles but win wars.
The wisest of all men has said “A just man falls seven times and rises again” [Mishlei 24:16]. Fools believe the intent of this verse is to teach us something remarkable-the just man has fallen seven times and yet he rises. But the knowledgeable are aware that the essence of the tzaddik’s rising again is by way of his seven falls. “ ‘And He saw all that he had made and behold, it was very good. “Good’: that is the yetzer tov. ‘Very good’: that is the yetzer horah.” [Breishis Rabah 9].
My cherished one, I clasp you to my heart, and whisper in your ear that had your letter reported on your mitzvos and good deeds, I would have said that I had received a good letter from you. As things stand, with your letter telling of slumps and falls and obstacles, I say that I have received a very good letter from you. Your spirit is storming as it aspires to greatness. I beg of you, do not portray for yourself great men as being as one with their yetzer tov. Picture rather their greatness in terms of an awesome war with every base and low inclination.
When you feel the turmoil of the yetzer within yourself, know that with that feeling you resemble great men far more than with the feeling of deep peace, which you desire. In those very areas where you feel yourself falling most frequently –particularly in those areas- do you have the greatest potential for serving as an instrument of distinction for the honor of Hashem.
(translation by Eliakim Willner)
