[Avodah] Ehrlachkeit, not Frumkeit

[T613K at aol.com]

From: Micha Berger _micha at aishdas.org_ (mailto:micha at aishdas.org) 


>> The word "frum" has become a near-synonym for Orthodox. How  this came
to be is noteworthy.

"Frum" descends from the German  "fromm", meaning pious or devout. In
pre-war Yiddish, usage appears to have  varied widely. On the one hand,
those who named their daughters "Fruma"  clearly thought being frum as
complimentary. On the other, there was an  idiom, or as Rav Aharon Kotler
often put it, "Frum iz a galech; ehrlich iz a  Yid - the town priest is
`pious', a Jew is refined." 
 
 
 


>>>>>
 
I don't know this idiom, it was not part of the culture I grew up  in.  In 
normal, everyday Yiddish and Orthodox English, "frum" means  Torah-observant 
and "ehrlech" means "honest, having integrity, having  principles."  If you 
look up ehrlech in a Yiddish-English dictionary, you  will find it defined 
as "honest."
 
The two categories overlap, they are not meant to be contrasted and  
certainly not opposite.  And BTW "ehrlech" does not mean  "refined."  The word for 
"refined" is "eidel."
 
 
The wry apercu attributed to R' Kotler -- "Frum is der galach" -- is meant  
as a criticism of those frum Jews who are not ehrlich.  It is also a  
not-so-subtle dig at certain priests and other outwardly-pious non-Jews whose  
private behavior leaves much to be desired.  The Church has had its share  of 
scandals, no news there.  
 
A frum Jew should be ehrlich, and should also be eidel.
 
Translation:  An observant Jew should be honest -- should be ethical,  
should have integrity, should be principled -- and should /also/ be  refined in 
his dress, speech and manners.
 
If he keeps Shabbos, keeps kosher, keeps the mitzvos -- he is frum.   It is 
not a /bad/ thing to be frum, it's just not enough for a fully-developed  
Torah Jew.
 
 

--Toby Katz
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