Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Food Chain




I find Chol Hamoed to a big Nisayon in tolerance and Ahavas Yisroel.

However I must say that I like the idea of renting out big huge parks and circuses and having just frum people, an idea that has become popular these last few years.
Let's face it we are a unique cultural phenominon and while we might certainly appreciate our fun loving and leibidig disposition, not everyone does. I'll never forget at the Auto Show at the Javitz Center a few years ago (which foolishly usually ends up during Chol Hamoed) this sweet American Couple was actually interested in an SUV there and they opened the back seat, only to find a family of 6 crowded in the back with open silver foils all over eating lunch.

So, I'd spend half the day nervously whispering..stop it!..chillul hashem!!..and the other half apologizing to horrified scandinavians.

Now, I breathe alot easier.

However to pre-empt any negative feelings you might feel toward any segment of our community I've reposted something I posted last year after Chol Hamoed.

Print it out and read it every 20 minutes during your trip.


I’ve discovered that I’m part of a very disturbing food chain.

After another exhausting Chol Hamoed trip we were sitting and recounting details of our sojourn..
As usual there were disparaging remarks about Chassidim eating all over and being pushy etc..
Then during the meal on Yom Tov a conversation came up about how Chassidim cheat the government on taxes and they don’t work...etc..
I passionately hate these conversation and everyone knows it. I think that it's always wrong and unfair to stereotype.

I realized then that we’re all part of the insecurity food chain...

Whatever right wing Frum people say about Chassidim..
Modern Orthodox say about right wing Frum...
Whatever Modern Orthodox say about right wing Frum people
Non Orthodox say about all Orthodox
And whatever Non Orthodox say about Orthodox
Non-Jews say about Jews...

So next time you’re about to feel all superior by trampling on someone who is supposedly “superior than you”..
remember.
You’re just a small ring in the food chain and at this very moment some anti-semite is probably saying the same exact thing about you to his children.

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11 Comments:

Blogger the dreamer said...

Interesting interpretation of the "food chain."
Really true, too!

Gosh, those auto show days... lugging around loads of booklets only to throw them out when we arrived home. the best part was upstairs...

March 28, 2007 1:32 PM  
Blogger smb said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

March 28, 2007 2:15 PM  
Blogger smb said...

Interesting thought

What we all need to remember is that G-d judges us the way we judge others. - Maybe this will give us an incentive to judge favorably.

March 28, 2007 2:16 PM  
Blogger socialworker/frustrated mom said...

Very nice it sounds familiar lol. This year must have passed by really quickly.

March 28, 2007 8:36 PM  
Blogger Bas~Melech said...

Too true.

Besides remembering that there are people who look at us the way we look at others...

We also need to keep in mind that just as what we do makes sense to us, what they do makes sense to them. Just as you mean well, they mean well. This can help pre-empt the problem of looking down on people to begin with.
(Though there will still be people looking down at you :P)

March 29, 2007 4:41 AM  
Blogger anonym00kie said...

i love this post! i loved it then and i love it now.. and now i love the new introduction..awesome :)

March 29, 2007 7:24 AM  
Blogger David_on_the_Lake said...

Dreamer...
Thanks..
lol..I know..except I was a boy (without brothers) so I kept them ... I actually had a whole pageant for weeks after the show..I'd slowly eliminate car after car..until we had a winner..
nerd..lol

lvnsm...
so true...if thats not an incentive..i dont know what is

swfm....
i know..couldya believe it?

bas_melech...
the way others judge us..is not always in out control..the way we judge everyone else is completely in our control.

anonym00kie..
oooh out of retirement?
Thanks

March 29, 2007 11:52 AM  
Blogger the dreamer said...

you ARE a nerd.
:)
we sometimes kept them (i do have a bunch of brothers)but my mother always managed to throw them out little by little.

The best was when we signed up to get more of these pamphlets in the mail... a never ending car-show, right in our own house!

shammy cloths, anyone?
lol.

March 29, 2007 11:49 PM  
Blogger David_on_the_Lake said...

dreamer..
oh..I know that..lol
Oh but you were abigger nerd...taking it a step further and signing up for mailings..lol

tuesday...
thats great..
some of my best memories are of chol hamoed outings..
As for the "looking down" that you perceive..well thats of a different nature.
The one I'm describing is borne of insecurity in your owl level..so you put down those above you..

March 30, 2007 9:00 AM  
Blogger the only way i know said...

i know what you mean about spending half of chol hamoed apologizing to the scandanavians!
LOL
hope this year will be one big kiddush Hashem

April 01, 2007 12:40 PM  
Blogger David_on_the_Lake said...

towik...
indeed it was..bh

April 11, 2007 3:42 PM  

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