Lesson on Chillul Hashem from the Kletzky tragedy
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Here's a little observation that I made in the shadow of one of the most traumatic events to hit our community in recent memory, the murder of Leiby Kletzky by an Orthodox Jew.
It's about our obsession with Chillul Hashem.
This is something I've written about many times before and over the past few days it's been shown that it's not the crime that causes the Chillul Hashem but the way we deal with it.
After looking around online forums, listening to news reports and talking to people I'm not getting any vibes which would indicate anyone outside of our community viewing us with disgust for producing such a monster.
The reason for this is because of our reaction. Our unequivocal revulsion and rejection as a community.
If only we could internalize this lesson and apply it to all other areas of possible embarrassment (without the moral equivalency).
If we could be more transparent and open with our issues. If we could reject wrongdoing off the bat, then even the most heinous crimes would not be a Chillul Hashem.
Everyone knows that people are humans and they have flaws. People can respect and understand that. On the contrary, I think if we just live normally without looking in the proverbial mirror every day to see how our image looks to the rest of the world, then people would see a community of humans with human challenges and divine responses . A community of people with struggles, flaws and profound faith.
It's only when there's denial and protecting the guilty that true Chillul Hashem occurs.
The irony is that when Chillul Hashem ITSELF becomes the obsession that we look pathetic and that's when the Chillul Hashem occurs.
.
Here's a little observation that I made in the shadow of one of the most traumatic events to hit our community in recent memory, the murder of Leiby Kletzky by an Orthodox Jew.
It's about our obsession with Chillul Hashem.
This is something I've written about many times before and over the past few days it's been shown that it's not the crime that causes the Chillul Hashem but the way we deal with it.
After looking around online forums, listening to news reports and talking to people I'm not getting any vibes which would indicate anyone outside of our community viewing us with disgust for producing such a monster.
The reason for this is because of our reaction. Our unequivocal revulsion and rejection as a community.
If only we could internalize this lesson and apply it to all other areas of possible embarrassment (without the moral equivalency).
If we could be more transparent and open with our issues. If we could reject wrongdoing off the bat, then even the most heinous crimes would not be a Chillul Hashem.
Everyone knows that people are humans and they have flaws. People can respect and understand that. On the contrary, I think if we just live normally without looking in the proverbial mirror every day to see how our image looks to the rest of the world, then people would see a community of humans with human challenges and divine responses . A community of people with struggles, flaws and profound faith.
It's only when there's denial and protecting the guilty that true Chillul Hashem occurs.
The irony is that when Chillul Hashem ITSELF becomes the obsession that we look pathetic and that's when the Chillul Hashem occurs.
.
posted by David_on_the_Lake at 3:03 PM
2 Comments:
there's a great article on yeshiva world from the director of the center for applied psychology, basically saying the same thing.
good point. may we never again know such tzaar.
A nation that has been persecuted for two thousand years learns to to become frightened of potential threats, even before they become anything serious. You dohavean interesting point, but I find our position understandable.
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