Fri, Dec 05, 2008

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Jewcy Book Club

This week:
My Jesus Year
and
Dumbfounded
My Jesus YearDumbfounded
Welcome Authors
Benyamin Cohen
 &
Matthew Rothschild
who are posting all week.
Coming up:
  • 12/08:
    Darin Strauss
  • 12/08:
    Seth Greenland
  • 12/15:
    Rabbi David Wolpe
  • 12/15:
    Janna Gur
  • 02/09:
    Tania Grossinger

FAITHHACKER

A big ol' THANK YOU to those crazy Haredim
Laurel Snyder

by Laurel Snyder, January 5, 2007

2 comments

Thanks, Moishe, Shlomo, and Shmuel!Thanks, Moishe, Shlomo, and Shmuel!Over at Haaretz today, I read that El Al has settled its dispute over whether or not to fly on Shabbat.  Which is nice and all... even though I didn't know it was happening.  It's always nice when agreements can be reached.  Here's the gist:

The agreement signals an end to an unofficial boycott of El Al, which has led to losses of about NIS 1 million a day, according to an official at Israel's national carrier.

The agreement stipulates that El Al will appoint a rabbi to rule on instances of a perceived need for flights on the Sabbath. El Al has also committed to adhere to its general policy of not flying on the Sabbath.

It's funny, but I never even considered this issue.  I'm such an American that when I read the headline, my reaction was, "That's CRAZY!  Religious fanatics shouldn't be able to control the world like that.  But then I got to thinking about how important the fringes are, for protecting our array of choices in the comfortable pluralistic middle we inhabit. 

I thought about how, smack-dab in the middle of the bible belt, I was able to request a kosher meal when I was in the hospital delivering my son.  About how I was then able to submit the bill for my mohel, after we had the circumcision at home, to Blue Cross. 

And I realized that those aren't issues I'd boycott or scream over...  because I don't think about them much, and if I had to eat a veggie plate instead, or eat the bill for a few hundred dollars, I'd do it, rather than making a fuss about my religious freedoms. 

But I'm grateful that the fringes care enough to fuss, and I benefit from their efforts, even though they seem a little nutso to me.  And this all makes me wonder about where I really stand...  It makes me think I'm at least as lazy and uncomitted...

as they are fanatical.

So who am I to judge?


Laurel Snyder

I scribble a lot. I talk too much. I apologize with wild abandon.


More...
2 comments | leave a comment

Anonymous

01/07/07 2:09 am
And then there is the kosher truck wash...

Hello Laurel: Interesting comment you made about El Al though I always thought they never DID fly on Shabbat. It was one of the things that made flying on El Al in its pre-privatization days interesting; you just knew that if you were leaving on an El Al flight from Israel on a Saturday you weren't going to be going anywhere until after shabbat and that could mean a very late departure depending on where you were going.

When I think about how pervasive Jewish influence is in terms of general society, I just take a look at the most innocuous food products to seek out the little symbols that represent the local koshering authority and almost without exception you can find the symbol(s) on most food products (pork rinds excepted).

This is just by way of helping to explain my subject line about the kosher truck wash. I once read a travel story where a reporter rode around with a truck driver who owned his own tractor and trailer tank . Because they can carry many different types of liquid loads it's important for the insides of a stainless steel tanker to be properly cleaned after each load. And sometimes, the load they will be carrying will go into the production of kosher food hence the need for a kosher cleaning service at a truck wash. And, in order for anything to be kosher, you need to have the proper religious authority in attendance to ensure that everything is well, kosher!

So, hats off (or more appropriately on) to those religious who take the time to watch over the rest of us and whether we appreciate their efforts or not, they truly do answer to a higher authority (with apologies to Hebrew National).

Regards,

Marc Goodman
Toronto, Canada



Nikol

09/15/07 12:03 pm
http://www.samsonblinded.org

While I mostly agree with your post, this article by Obadiah Shoher presents the haredim in somewhat different light http://samsonblinded.org/blog/not-true-rabbis.htm Shoher argues against haredim isolating themselves from other Jews instead of bringing the religion to masses.