An Attitude of Mistrust Perpetuated by Isolationism

Students leaving a school caught violating the requirement to stay closed

OK. I admit it. I am prejudiced. Well, not actually prejudiced. Because that implies that I have prejudged a community without any basis in reality. But instead on some sort of irrational hatred of Chasidim because of the way they look.

But that is not my problem. I can proudly say that I know a lot of exceptional people that look that way. But they are not guilty of the things I have a problem with. The central thing being the fact that they choose ignorance as a way of life. They happen to look different than most of the rest of us. They dress differently, have long Peyos and long beards. (Although that last thing is no longer an exclusive look for them. A lot of secular men have beards of varying trims and lengths these days. But I digress).

This is not the first time I have mentioned this. I have mentioned this plenty of times in the past. And for good reason. Ignorance is responsible for so much that is wrong in this community even as there are so many things right with it. I don’t think I need to go into detail. But I consider this flaw so bad that it almost negates the good. 

I believe ignorance is the reason for the occasional cases of  government fraud one finds there. Ignorance about the values of their surrounding culture. I cannot begin to tell you how many times I’ve heard the word ‘Goyim’ (non Jews) in derogatory terms. It is always in an ‘us versus them’ context. It goes something like this: ‘Our values are not their values.’ ‘Our values are Torah values.’ ‘Their values are the values of the street.’ 

That attitude and their willful ignorance results in a condescending attitude of mistrust. Which a culture of isolationism preserves.

Isolationism also preserves a centuries old suspicion of antisemitism and persecution that was part and parcel of the daily lives of our people in pre Holocaust Europe. Forcing many  Jews of that time into black market activities in order to support their families. That is clearly not the case here where Jews can have any career or job they choose.

Isolationism also precludes getting a decent education so that they can find better jobs and better incomes. That too contributes to their ignorance.  

While it is true that there are many things about the host culture that are indeed anathema to the Torah, it is also true that much of it is in concert with it. Something that they will either deny, or might admit to - but will be quickly add that the bad so far outweighs the good, that there is nothing to talk about.

What they then end up with is an attitude of using the system for whatever they can get out of it without having the slightest bit of respect for it. They rarely trust the system for anything else. They place little if any value on government rules. Often seeing them in conflict with their Torah based values. You might hear something like, ‘Who should I listen to? The Goyim? …or the Torah? So that a rule that prohibits their schools from functioning might be ignored. 

Which is why this happened!

At this point let me make clear that I am not talking about all, or even most Chasidim. Although many of them do have this attitude, I believe most of them are adhering to the guidelines and keeping their schools closed. At the same time - it is this attitude that causes certain Chasidic groups to ignore the rules while pretending to honor them . 

That was the case recently with 2 separate funerals. One in Williamsburg and one in Boro Park. In each case by Chasdim that had nothing to do with each other - except for sharing this kind of attitude. And most recently by another group of Chasidim unrelated to those two where a school in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn was caught teaching dozens of students clandestinely in a building unmarked as a school. 

Why are they risking their lives by violating the law? In my view it is out of pure ignorance and a disdain for any government authority. For all the above-mentioned reasons.  

So again it is not how they look that bothers me. It is how they act, and why they act that way that does. As I said at the outset, there are many people that look like that whom I admire and consider heroes. That’s because they are the opposite of ignorant. They are educated and enlightened.   

I understand the lure of a lifestyle that sees a Chasidic Rebbe as holy and closer to God than any other mortal.  I understand the warm embrace of a community where everybody is considered family. I understand the kind of networking that goes on there that benefits everyone at every stage of their lives. I understand the charitable attitude that permeates this world. I can appreciate a lifestyle that is more about giving than it is about taking. The lure of that kind of lifestyle must be irresistible. But at what price?

The truth is that they do not really have to give any of that up. You don’t need to be isolated from the rest of the world to have those things. They need not change the way they live nor the way they look. But a change in attitude about the outside world and loosening the reins of isolationism will do wonders for the perpetuation of that lifestyle and help to prevent Chilul HaShem. 

They will then see the good as well as the bad.  And trust state and federal government  policies  like those based on the COVID-19 pandemic. Policies that are not out to destroy them or their way of life. But to protect them and allow them to preserve their way of life.  As long as they do not harm themselves and others.

There.  I said my piece. Too bad they will not listen to me - even in the unlikely event that they hear me.  So I guess I will remain ‘prejudiced’.