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| R' Shneur Kotler |
The word ‘Frum’ technically means religious. If someone is
meticulous in their observance of Halacha, then he is religious. But what about
the trappings of religiosity that are not actually Halacha? I believe that on
the right wing, those things have become just as important - if not more
important - than Halacha itself. That is what I would call Frumkeit.
In his sefer Alei Shur, Rav Shlomo Wolbe opposed
Frumkeit. When doing something religious for show - one is more concerned with
their image than with the actual religious purpose of what they are doing.
Today, in the non-Chasidic world of the right, the trappings
of Frumkeit seem to have overtaken the importance of mitzvah observance itself,
which is largely taken for granted.
What are these trappings? I would say they consist of
lifestyle changes adopted in order to be considered as religious as are Jews to
their right. Chassidic customs are the primary model for many of those changes,
albeit modified enough to become a distinctly their own Yeshivish version of
them.
Chassidim go to great lengths to distinguish themselves from
the secular world. They try to be as insular as possible in order to avoid
being influenced by a culture they view entirely antithetical to Jewish values.
They have their own distinctive dress and customs.
They also have interpretations of Halacha that give them an
entirely different appearance from the rest of the Jewish people. Long curly
Peyos and long beards accompany their traditional long black frocks.
Another area in which they are extremely careful is avoiding
even the slightest possibility of improper sexual thoughts. As such, they
minimize interaction between the sexes as much as possible. Separate seating at
banquets and weddings is absolute. Sometimes there are even separate buildings,
or separate sides of the street for men and women in certain locations. Many
Chasidic communities ban all pictures of women, no matter how modestly dressed
they may be. Even headshots.
In their determination to avoid outside influences, Chasidim
often reject secular education - especially at the college level - considering
it a dangerous threat to one’s religious beliefs and practices.
Some Chassidic groups are so fearful of outside influences
that they have created enclaves almost completely isolated from the outside
world except when absolutely necessary. Such as for specialized medical care.
There was a time, not too long ago, when the non-Chassidic
world lived by its own standards. I’m not talking about Modern Orthodox Jews.
I’m talking about the Yeshiva world.
There was a time when they paid little attention to the
Chassidic worldview. They had their own worldview, centered on following
Halacha and studying Torah. They never looked to their right to see how “Frum”
others were, fearing they might be viewed as less Frum by comparison. Somewhere
in the 1970s, that began to change. They started paying attention to Chassidic
stringencies and slowly began to emulate them.
I first noticed it when separate seating became the new
standard in the Yeshiva world…
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