Change Brings Hope

There are two components to every frum convention: the actual get-things-done, policy-discussion, action-items part; and the more informal, less-scripted portion, that which happens in corridors and lobbies, at a late-night oneg Shabbos, after davening, or during the Shabbos seudah — the “hock” of a convention. Agudah was announcing that they were taking away the second part and leaving the first.

For people like me, not that into policy or getting things done, that’s like having a musical Havdalah on Motzaei Yom Kippur. Let me out of here.

First it made me sad — a glorious chapter coming to a close. The Agudah convention was a staple of American Orthodox life for decades, and it was something beautiful. As Reb Yechiel Benzion Fishoff, one of the great aristocrats of the frum world, would often say, the convention gave people like him their whole identity.

Many of his friends had come to this country without parents or siblings, forced to define themselves while also trying to learn a new language, get married, and make a living. Yes, sure, they would keep Shabbos and wear tefillin — but beyond that, Mr. Fishoff told me, all bets were off. Would they send their sons to yeshivos or day schools? Would their wives cover their hair? Would they give of their own income to build Torah institutions?