I have never been a fan of “Gedolim” cards. I view them as a bit demeaning to the people they represent. I understand the purpose. But as I do in many cases I question whether the ends justify the means.
True... the primary reason for this particular enterprise can be seen as educational. It makes use of a modality common to young people. They seem to be attracted… in some cases even addicted… to collecting baseball (or other sports) cards. They learn about stats from all these cards which contain information about the player pictured on the front.
Why not utilize that propensity in youngsters for purposes of learning about the great religious leaders of our time and the recent past? Some entrepreneur obviously had that thought… and ‘Gedolim’ cards were born. The Gadol’s photograph is on the front and a personal little bio or other stats is on the back.
But, as I said I find it a bit demeaning to ‘collect’ Gedolim as though they were nothing more than celebrities. Once you have a photo of a Gadol on a card and your start trading doubles… the person on the card loses a bit of his luster.
Another thing that bothers me is the fact that this phenomenon seeks to replace the hobby of collecting baseball cards altogether. Not that I think that it is all that beneficial to learn about how many home runs Barry Bonds hit last year. But I don’t really see the harm in it either. Why can’t a child have a hobby that is a diversion from his day to day learning? Must every moment of his or her life be Torah, Torah, and more Torah? Isn’t it just possible that a young child can be over-dosed on it a bit? Shouldn’t a child be allowed to just be a child?
So what if he knows who Barry Bonds is or what he does? It relaxes the child and rejuvenates him for more learning. Doesn’t the recent violence by Meah Shearim and Ramat Bet Shemesh children teach us anything about giving a child some positive distractions in his or her leisure time?
Do we need children 8, 9, and 10 years old saying when asked about why they are torching vehicles in the middle of a major intersection in Jeruslaem to answer, “Because it’s fun!”? Wouldn’t collecting baseball cards (or soccer cards in Israel, I suppose) be a bit more constructive than spraying bleach on passers-by in Meah Shearim?
But I digress. We have Gedolim cards. And now that we do, it has become quite political as to who gets to be a Gadol. Obviously it is the Hashkafos of the manufacturer that will determine that (maybe in consultation with certain “Gedolim’ themselves).
In the case of the current set of cards it is only the right wing ‘Gedolim’ who get a card. And apparently it doesn’t take that much to get one. I’ve been told that there are some pretty obscure names on these cards in addition to the obvious names that one would expect.
But there are some pretty big names that aren’t. Like the Rav, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik. If I understand correctly, my Rebbe made it. Rav Ahron got a card.
But it isn’t only the Rav who didn’t get a card, not a single Modern Orthodox, Centrist, or Religious Zionist made it. (Although I guess Rav Aharon is considered right wing enough by them even though he said Hallel on Yom HaAtzmaut. Maybe they didn't know that about him.) But that is about to change. A new set of Religious Zionist cards have come out.
I applaud this development. As I say I generally don’t approve of Gedolim trading cards but it is a fact of life today. And there are worse things in the world. One has to choose which hill to die upon and this one isn’t it for me. So, if you can't beat 'em ...join 'em.
The fact that the current Gedolim cards leave out certain Gedolim for political reasons is a tremendous wrong in my view. These new cards correct that. It is my hope that the Religious Zionist cards are identical in format to the other ‘Gedolim’ cards (I’ve never seen one). And I hope the market is flooded with them. And I hope children of all stripes try and collect the entire set, RZ rabbis included.
Wouldn’t that be wonderful?
