[Avodah] Fw: fashion models and opera singers

[Mike Miller]

On 4/30/07, Samuel Svarc <ssvarc at yeshivanet.com> wrote:
> >The other point I was making is that perhaps it would be better for us
> >to say "their behavior is wrong" or "their behavior appears wrong."
> >Why do we need to go the extra step?
>
> Because not judging reveals an ambivalence to the action.
>
> R' Sholom Schwadron used to say over a true story, as follows. One day his
> wife rushed into the house and told him that a kid had fallen and cut his
> head. R' Sholom grabbed a towel and ran outside to the kid (a neighbor's
> son). He pressed the towel to the kid's head and started running up the hill
> to a doctor. The kid's grandmother was walking down the hill and seeing R'
> Sholom running with the kid, she figured it must be R' Sholom's son, so she
> called out, "R' Sholom, he'll be all right! Don't worry!" As R' Sholom came
> closer she saw that the kid wasn't a Schwadron, so she said, "Oy! He should
> have a refuah shleimah!" As R' Sholom sprinted past her and she saw that the
> kid was *her* grandson, she shrieked, "YANKEL!!!"
>
> R' Sholom used to say, when it's your Yankel, then you're not ambivalent.
> When shabbos means as much to you as your bank account, you shriek. When
> someone rips you off, you're not ambivalent about it; you say, "That person,
> he's a ganef!". When someone rips off the Ribona Shel Olam, it's the same
> thing... if it's your Yankel.

True. However, the fact that our actions (or feelings) in one case may
match what's expected from us doesn't mean we're necessisary doing it
for the right reasons.

If we scream "shabbos" at cars driving by, but don't scream "choshen
mishpat" when we see financial improprieties, or, conversely, we
protest improper social conduct on behalf of leaders but ignore
religious deficiencies, then it suggests that our actions may not
(yet) be 100% leshem shamayim. This in no way suggests we should lower
our standards, but it does require a great deal of introspection.

Of course, this is all assuming that screaming Shabbos is what Hashem
actually wants from us, which is a topic that I think has been
sufficiently addressed in other forums.

> >Side note: one of the people in our building recently approached me to
> >ask about another tenant. The first individual (let's call him O)
> >wanted to make a private eruv for the building, but had some concerns
> >about whether another individual (let's call him A) was shomer shabbos.
> >I told him that I don't know, I know that A considers himself shomer
> >shabbos, even though there are some things he does that I wouldn't do,
> >but I believe he's in a category of "Omer Mutar."
>
> So he's a shomer shabbos. Judge him accordingly.

Done and done.

> >Since I
> >have no relevant questions regarding A's Kashrus, etc., I've never
> >really considered the issue -- why bother?

I meant that I've never considered the exact details of his case to
decide if he's ne'eman. The halachos of mechalel shabbos k'goy, as
well as proper conduct for those involved in security forces are
things that I have some familiarity with (although I can't claim to be
extremely well versed in either).

<long quote snipped>

> How could some one like [MM added: A] this be a rasha? Shomer shabbos, keeps kashrus, etc?

One of the concerns was shmiras shabbos. As you pointed out, and as I
mentioned to O, his din certainly appears to be as a shomer shabbos.

-- Mike Miller
Ramat Bet Shemesh