[Avodah] Ehrlachkeit, not Frumkeit

[kennethgmiller at juno.com]

In the "Consumer Alert: Minhog Scams On The Rise!" thread, R' Micha Berger wrote:

> We live in an era ... where there is too much focus on
> frumkeit rather than ehrlachkeit and yesodei haTorah.

I wholeheartedly agree with this, and would love to coin a new slogan to help us focus on that idea. Something which can help us to realize that our ehrlachkeit is lacking, but without casting aspersions on frumkeit.

But I want to be prepared for arguments and backlash. Many, for example, will point to the proliferation of chesed organizations as an example of ehrlachkeit. But that's not what we're talking about, is it? What we're really referring to is manners, common decency, and a realization that Bein Adam L'Chaveiro is also d'Oraisa.

How can we communicate these ideas? This is especially difficult to people who don't appreciate that a problem even exists.

I can imagine one situation where the opportunity comes up, and that could be when someone's frumkeit is praised. One is describing a certain individual, and the tendency is to describe how he dresses and the various chumras he follows. If instead we would describe how he acts and the chessed he performs, perhaps we can slowly effect a change in which things are valued.

Akiva Miller

____________________________________________________________
Groupon.com Official Site
1 huge daily deal on the best stuff to do in your city. Try it today!
http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3131/4dfa49df2e58d48516cst04vuc