Overbearing Rabbis
The singles' column in the Jewish Press is in the midst of a silly discussion of whether or not single men should hold open their car doors for their dates.
One writer, a yeshiva student, writes that they should and rejects the notion that halacha somehow prohibits this, writing:
"
My rav showed me how to open a door with the boy in front." (italics added)
Am I the only one who finds it absurd that this guy's rabbi is showing him how to open a car door on dates?
We have gotten to the point where many rabbis insist on turning every issue, no matter how trivial it appears to an ignoramus like me, into one that is a complex question of Jewish law.
The result is unfortunate. On one hand, there are a growing number of yeshivish people who simply cannot make any decision at all without first consulting with a rabbi.
On the other hand, many people - even on the Orthodox right - take hardly anything the rabbis say seriously. Banning the Internet didn't work, banning Making Of A Godol turned the book into a hot item, and objections by some charedi rabbis to the 2002 pro-Israel rally in Washington was met by a massive frum turnout and open expressions of anger at the stridency of Agudah's rabbinical leadership.
It's time for the rabbis to take a step back, especially when the issue is not at all related to halacha. Otherwise we will be left with a large number of mindless followers and a larger number of cynical scoffers.
posted on 11/21/2004
