The Volume That Speaks Volumes

Media incitement against chareidim is old hat an automatic Pavlovian reaction against their favorite bête noir. Were there no chareidim they would have to be invented for the benefit of the secular elites and their servile media. Whipping boys are hard to find.

Recently however the incitement has become unusually shrill. Granted chareidi society is far from perfect and the behavior of some of its adherents far from exemplary. But even though one expects higher standards from those who defend Torah values the fact is that whenever a chareidi commits a wrong that would normally be reported on page 15 the anti-religious media faithful to the tradition of yellow journalism pounce on it and create a media circus: screaming headlines attack columns admonishing editorials.

Certainly the ugly behavior of some chareidi hooligans such as those in Beit Shemesh are abhorrent. They bring shame to the name of G-d Torah and Orthodox Jewry trampling upon the pleasant dracheha darchei noam face of Torah. Still one cannot help wondering: if say Israeli Russian hooligans — and not chareidim — were committing such outrages would the liberal media condemn the entire population of Russians?

Fast forward to the unique new Feldheim Yom Tov machzor. Until now all machzorim were designed for Israel and for the Diaspora because only in this way could they be commercially viable. But the need to produce one machzor for both communities created numerous opportunities for prayerful confusion. For example Israelis celebrate only one day of Yom Tov instead of the normative Diaspora two days. And of course on the day after Yom Tov in Israel Diaspora Jews are still celebrating the last day of Yom Tov. Machzor publishers historically made valiant efforts to address everyone’s prayer needs within one volume but with this new publication the wide net is no longer necessary.