In past generations, the average, ordinary Jew was Torah
observant. From time to time, one of the `ism's would come
along -- be it Hellenism, socialism, Communism, Zionism or
even feminism -- and attempt to lure away our young. Those
targeted by the popular ideology of the times were often the
best and the brightest.
Someone who lived here in Yerusholayim during the heady days
of the founding of the State related that there were many
religious families, including those who lived in such
sheltered enclaves as Meah Shearim, who lost teenagers and
young adults to kibbutzim, moshavim, Zionist movements
(religious and secular) and various units of the Hagganah.
Now, in the beginning of the 21st century, some seven decades
after the Chofetz Chaim told us that he could hear the
footsteps of the approaching Moshiach, there is something new
that is luring away our young. It isn't an `ism;' it isn't
even an ideology. It is nothingness.
In the recent Israeli election, a significant number of
Knesset seats were won by a party that espouses nothing
except hatred for Torah and mitzvos. It is not `for'
anything. It is just against Yiddishkeit. The name of this
party, Shinui, means `change,' and indeed, it represents a
change from the lures of the past. Trendy young Israelis
whose lives revolve around their jobs, their cars, their high
tech cellular phones and other gadgets, not to mention their
leisure activities, flocked to support this party of
nothing.
There was a popular story in the 19th century secular Yiddish
literature about a likable shlemazel (ne'er-do-well)
who left his wife and children to travel about and try to
earn a living.
The book consists of a series of pairs of letters. In the
first of each pair, the `hero' describes the town or city
that he has just entered, the lifestyle of its financially
successful residents, and the way in which they are earning
their money. Then he says, "And me in the middle of it."
Of course, he is never successful. The second of each pair of
letters goes on to tell how he tried to emulate the money-
makers and the often hilarious description of how his efforts
backfired.
The readers could sympathize with the protagonist of the
story for several reasons, not the least of which is the very
human tendency to try to be "in the middle" of whatever is
happening around us.
Impressionable teenagers and young adults are the most
vulnerable members of society. They follow trends, the media
and peer pressure to a much greater extent than their elders.
In the years after World War II, young people everywhere on
the globe turned into American `wannabees.' They wore
American jeans and T-shirts, ate American fast-food and
listened to American music.
At first, it was relatively innocuous, and the parents looked
aside, shrugged their shoulders and said, "This, too, will
pass." But then America started exporting the darker side of
its world: the drug culture, tattoos, body piercing and the
like. And the youngsters of the world were still saying, "And
me in the middle of it."
The nothingness of American culture, circa 2000, has invaded
Israeli society. We see youngsters on our buses with
outlandish hairdos, multiple earrings, nose rings and tiny
gold studs filling holes in other parts of their exposed
anatomies, vacant looks on their faces and attire that lacks
any element of self respect. When they get off the bus, they
don't say "Shalom" or "Lehitraot." Instead,
it's "Bye!" with a quasi-American accent, that they sing out
to their classmates.
This past Purim morning, I was hurrying to the local grocery
to buy challos and a few goodies to fill some last minute
baskets. Coming towads me were a bevvy of costumed children,
delivering their families' mishloach manos. I was busy
admiring the lovely little brides, the bearded Mordechais,
the Dutch girls with their yellow braids and a clever walking
hamantasch.
But then I stopped in my tracks. Coming down the street in my
totally chareidi neighborhood was a young boy of about 10 or
11. He was wearing jeans and a T- shirt with sleeves rolled
up to the shoulder and his spiked hair was sprayed green!
No, this wasn't a stranger on a bus, whom I could rationalize
was someone who had not been privy to a Jewish education,
hadn't been exposed to Yiddishkeit, or perhaps wasn't even
Jewish. This was the child of one of my neighbors -- a
cheder boy -- who had been exposed, however
marginally, to the anti- culture of nothingness and had
elected to be a `nothing' for Purim.
A few years before we left the States, circa 1990, we were
invited to a bar mitzva seuda. As expected, the boy
got up and thanked his Rebbe for helping him to learn the
laining, his parents, grandparents, teachers etc. Then
he told the assembled guests that he had prepared something
special to share with us.
What followed was a `rap' song which he had composed to
express his feelings on the occasion of reaching Jewish
manhood. Everyone present squirmed a little as we all thought
to ourselves, "What's wrong with this picture?"
It was that same feeling that I had on Purim morning as I
surveyed the cheder `punk' boy strolling down my
street.
Clearly, the lure of nothingness has invaded the most
insulated bastions of chareidi life. We have to counter it in
every way we can. We have to bombard our youngsters with love
of Torah and Yiddishkeit, and with the many beautiful
elements of our Torah based lives that give our sojourn in
this world meaning.
We have to start off by creating warm loving homes for our
families. We have to relate well to our neighbors so that we
have a connection to their youngsters.
We have to fill our neighborhoods, our homes, our schools and
our lives with the special simchas hachayim of
Yiddishkeit.
There is something else that may be most important of all. We
have to insure that every Jewish child can read Hebrew
fluently, can be a constructive participant in class
discussions, and can feel comfortable about him/herself, his
identity and his schooling.
A child who sees himself as a `nothing' will gravitate to
nothingness. This is another aspect of the `Shinui' of our
times -- the appeal to the misfits of our society rather than
to the best and the brightest.
If nothingness has crept in to fill even very tiny cracks in
our world, we have to fight that nothingness with everything
that is at our command. Be it love of learning, love of
fellow Jew, enthusiasm for mitzvos. We have an entire
arsenal.
Let us use it to create a world of meaning and satisfaction
for the youngsters in our midst.
