A More Diversified Frum Editorial

In an article entitled Forget Judicial Overhaul We Need Editorial Overhaul, Tzvi Haimov argues that the Frum press is doing a disservice by not presenting different perspectives on any given issue. However, the frum media, especially Yated and Hamodia, must often comply with strict standards or else be boycotted if something is published that does not meet frum standards.

For example, the issue of secular education in certain yeshivas was raised in the article. There are those Rabbis that contend that only limudei kodesh must be studied. Learning English, history and other secular subjects may be considered bitul torah. I actually met a Chabad Chasid that said he went to such a Yeshiva where secular Studies were almost entirely excluded from the curriculum. There are other issues of Giyur, conversion, and Shabbat which the secular courts of Israel have dealt with as well. The frum community has strict guidelines about these issues. For the frum community, only Orthodox conversion is acceptable. Reform or Conservative conversion is not valid for them and thus they do not want to even present the other side of the argument. Similarly with Shabbat, the religious community in Israel does not want public transportation, like bus and train service, operated on Shabbat. They do not want to consider the social or economic arguments in favor of running these services on Shabbat. For the religious community Shabbat is the most holy day and it does not make a difference if there is an economic loss or inconvenience. The frum community is also in favor of strong laws about kashrut and Pesach and would not really want to hear about liberties or freedoms that some would argue would be an argument for allowing kashrut laws to be weakened.

To be sure, there is also a variety of frum media. The Jewish Press is an Orthodox paper but a little more tolerant and open to ideas, more so than the Yated and Hamodia.

Another problem with having a more diverse set of opinions is that those in the frum world do not always want to have their children exposed to views they do not find acceptable.

They often shelter their kids and would not want them reading alternative views.

This is one of the reasons they do not like secular colleges.

Having said all of the above, I can still see the need for other opinions, as it may even allow for “da ma shetashiv,” or knowing how to respond to the opposing side’s arguments.

 Mordechai Pinchasov
Forest Hills, NY