“Coming as I do from the chassidishe oilem, I wonder why the yeshivish crowd can’t take anything from our playbook”
I’d like to respond to Rivka Goldstein, who felt my letter objecting to the battle in Linden is because I have a problem with chassidim. I mentioned no such thing. In fact, I’m a nurse in a doctor’s office with mostly chassidish patients, and I love them — yes, love them — with my heart and soul. I think about them all the time, I daven for their children, and I’ve become good friends with many of them (and I am litvish through and through).
Second, I should clarify that my main concern was about the mass attendance in city hall on Chol Hamoed. In my mind, that just created a scene and not a good one. I should also clarify that I absolutely do not take for granted the rights we have as Americans that allow us to practice our religion freely. These rights are a huge brachah. But as I mentioned in my first letter, we are Yidden first, and we have a responsibility to act and live al kiddush Hashem. Pursuing litigation (as they did in Jackson, Toms River, and Clifton) is a lot less attention-grabbing then storming city hall, even if yes, technically, we have every right to be there.
I feel very strongly that as Jews, we need to lie low. Very low. We can and should advocate for our safety and dignity, but quietly, without cameras and hullabaloo.
I feel the same way about attending counterprotests to try to “out-scream” pro-Hamas protesters. I don’t see what it accomplishes besides making us look bad. What we need right now is tefillah and to strengthen our mitzvah observance, not to put ourselves in the public eye and invite more trouble.
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