To quote Shakespeare,” The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves...” I would add, “and in our Mechanchim”.
Several years ago a friend of mine accepted a position as a general studies high school principal at a highly respected Yeshiva. The students there were generally fine Bnei Torah many of them budding Talmidei Chachamim with all the Midos one would expect of them, which includes profound Kavod for their Roshei Yeshiva and Rabbeim. Upon commencing his duties there the principal was shocked by what he saw. Once they were in the classroom of the secular studies teachers who were non-Jews, they acted in a most disrespectful and disgusting way toward them. They ridiculed them behind their backs and in some cases, right to their faces! Upon the first opportunity the principal tried to rebuke them and get them to stop this reprehensible behavior. To his great surprise, they did not think they were doing anything wrong. The explanation went something like this: “What’s the problem?” “They’re Goyim!” “They were probably Oiver on one of the Sheva Mitzvos... M’Stamah they stole something in their lives... and were therefore Mechiuv Misah anyway!”
When the principal approached the Roshei Yeshiva about this attitude on the part of the Yeshiva Bachurim Bachurim, the response was tepid. They agreed it was wrong and a Chilul HaShem and promised to speak to the boys about it. But they were certainly not outraged and perhaps not even surprised by it. This story shocked me at the time. While I knew how non-Jews are thought of by some of our Mechanchim in Yeshivos, I never thought they would allow their Bachurim to perpetrate a major Chilul HaShem. And of course these Roshei Yeshiva would never purposely allow a Chilul HaShem like this to be perpetrated by their students. But the question is: How could they let go on right under their noses? How could they not know about it? And... why the lukewarm response?
I think the answer lies in the way the attitude in general is conveyed to students about the secular world in general and Non Jews in particular. In their zeal to discourage their students from participating in general culture, they go to great lengths and never miss an opportunity to show non Jews in the most negative light. Whenever the Gemarah talks of an Akum in a disparaging way they will often use that as a springboard to show how immoral and disgusting “Goyim” are. And they rarely if ever differentiate between good Goyim and bad, except to say that the good Goyim, whom they refer to as the Chasidei Umos HaOlam, are the rare exception.
These children, who for the most part have been sheltered from the outside world, have little if any exposure to the media, or the world of entertainment, wind up thinking that Goyim are generally Michuiv Misah and not worthy of being treated as human beings. There are many instances where the Gemarah speaks of an Akum in unflattering ways. Mechanchim in elementary schools and high schools always make a point of extending these comments to all non-Jews.
What kind of conclusion would one expect by these boys when all they ever hear about Non Jews is a constant barrage of negative and comments disgusting comments? The very word used to refer to non Jews: ...Goyim... has become a pejorative. It should therefore be no surprise to anyone that young Bnei Torah end up with this attitude.
And since this attitude has been instilled in Yeshiva students for many decades, is it any surprise that there are Frum and otherwise Ehrliche Jews who never the less treat their fellow human beings with less than the dignity they deserve? Add to that a leftover justifiable European mentality about the non Jews of Europe from grandparents passed on in their own families and you have a prescription for the kind of behavior in the above story. Young people have been immersed in a culture which teaches that a Goy is a disgusting creature to be avoided at all costs.
Now I’m sure that this is not the universal message in all Yeshivos. There are many fine Mechanchim who do teach the proper Midos with respect to interacting with non-Jews. But it is pervasive enough in Orthodoxy to allow for massive Chilul HaShem. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve noticed the condescending attitude a Jewish merchant will have to a non-Jewish employee or customer. It makes my stomach turn.
The key to changing this behavior is education. And the Mechanchim are the first ones that need to be educated. They can start by reading my article, “In the image of God” and then incorporate this attitude in to their teachings. There needs to be a sea change in attitude. No longer should every opportunity be taken to bash non-Jews. Instead, non-Jews should be judged individually and “presumed innocent until proven guilty”. In this great country of ours whose very credo is tolerance, we should be no less tolerant of non-Jews than our fellow non-Jewish citizens are of us.
