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<div style="text-align: justify;">See the essay "<a href="http://personal.stevens.edu/%7Ellevine/Frum_or_Ehrlich_v3.pdf">Frum or Erlich</a>" by Dr. Yitzchok Levine. Teaser:<br /><blockquote>The American Orthodox Jewish community of today is drastically different from the community that existed in America 75 years ago. Orthodox Judaism circa 1930 was struggling to maintain its numbers due to mass defections from religious observance.<br />...<br />In these communities one increasingly hears such statements as, "He is so frum." "That family is very frum; they don't have or do this or that." On the other hand, far too often one hears strong criticism of frum people. The source of this criticism is not limited to non-observant Jews or to non-Jews. One also hears condemnation of the so-called frum from Jews who are committed to Torah and Mitzvos. "He is supposedly so frum, and yet he does such and such." Could it be that frumkeit is not the end all and be all of Yiddishkeit?<br />...<br />Years ago the highest compliment that one could give to a Jew was not that he or she is frum, but that he or she is ehrlich. The term frum is perhaps best translated as "religious." More often than not it focuses on the external aspects of observance. It describes a person whose outward appearance and public actions apparently demonstrate a commitment to religious observance. The categorization of someone as being ehrlich, literally "honest," implies that this person is not only committed to the externalities of religious observance, but also is concerned about how his or her religious observance impacts upon others. Frumkeit is often primarily concerned only with the mitzvos bein odom laShem (between man and G-d), whereas ehrlichkeit, while certainly concerned with bein odom laShem, also focuses on bein odom l'odom (those mitzvos that govern inter-personal relationships.)<br />...<br />Sadly, there are people who are frum who are not particularly ehrlich. Let me relate a personal experience that I had about a year ago. ...<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">A Model of Ehrlichkeit, Reb Yisroel Salanter, ZT"L</span><br />The question arises, "If being frum is not the same as being ehrlich, then what does it mean to be ehrlich?" Perhaps the best way to get insight into what ehrlich behavior entails is by studying the actions of those who excelled in such behavior. ...<br /></blockquote></div> <br /><br />--<br><font color="gray" size="2">Posted by micha to <a href="http://www.aishdas.org/asp/2006/09/frum-or-erlich.shtml">Aspaqlaria</a> at 9/19/2006 05:19:00 PM</font></body></html>