I received a comment that asked me to back up a point I made about YU being not frum (more or less). I would like to say that this comment is a mistake. Perhaps it was my fault.
I believe that this may have been in response to my comment "... the direction the school is headed..." I would like to say that the imperative word there is "headed." On it's way, not quite there. I hope that explains it better.
My beef is not with frum YU students, who are the most consistently frum people I have ever seen. What they do in school, they will do at home, and will do in social situations. In YU you'll be hard pressed to find a guy who is oreo in yeshiva, then goes into the world smoking and cursing (Don't kid yourself to think that it's like that everywhere). When they learn about something new, they take it on or it'll eat at them (they don't just forget about it) - that is noble, the essense of being frum.
Ah. So where is my problem? When the response to Rabbi Schachter saying "you should have a religious individual teach a [certain] class" is that the person would rather have the most qualified person teaching even if their morals are subject to question - this shows that the respondent views madda for its own sake... so what is the purpose of this school again? Tumah U Madda?... That's not right... I can't quite remember the phrase in situations like this.
Then there's the accredation of the business school. Business is almost always about (making money) [earning a living]. There is almost no higher purpose to that concept. So if the accredation is to get the guys better jobs that's one thing - although they may want to address certain incompetancies in a different office first. If they are just looking to make it a better school for academic reasons on their own, well... I pity them. They may disagree, but then it could be because we come from slightly different viewpoints.
As always, all terms are based on my original definitions, otherwise my posts would be much longer. So please don't argue based on the "dictionary" meaning of things.
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11 comments:
What is the word "almost" doing in that last paragraph? Does he have something in mind that he is not telling us about?
Why are you continuing to ignore my question regarding whether or not you have asked a Rav about starting such a blog, as well as the type of contests posted (thus far and henceforward)? Is it not the frum thing to do, in all senses?
Im lo achshav... How can you claim to be frum on the one hand, but not consult a rav about whether having such a public commentary/discussion this is the right thing to do? Might it violate certain halachos dealing with loshon harah, or very easily could lead to such? Why don't you just ask your shiur rebbe?
It's fair to be frustrated with those not listening to Rav Schachter about school courses. But if the same person complaining about it doesn't care to ask a rav about his own matters - especially those relating to the public, like this - then that is hypocritical. It is akin to those who talk of "respecting Halachic borders, but also..." I'm sure you are aware of what I'm referencing.
Wait a minute. You argue that one man's public statements is indicative of a general trend, namely, that YU is placing Madda ahead of Torah.
This man is, first and foremost, a politician. What he says in public has nothing to do with what he believes and what he does. Judge politicians by their actions, not by their words.
Sorry Choveiv Am, but I need to see more concrete evidence that Torah U'Madda is endangered at Yeshiva.
hey CA, what did you think of Gil Student's recent entry on Torah Im Derech Eretz? Might make a good blog posting:
http://hirhurim.blogspot.com/2006/12/ephraim-and-menashe-torah-and-derekh.html
I think that your politician case works in the opposite direction. A proper politician says what the person likes to hear. So when he is in a discussion with a Rabbi, that is the worst time to say that you don't care about religious values of teachers.
He could always have said something to the extent "we will make every attempt at..." with a narrow view of the term "every".
Torah Im Derech Eretz is the actual phrase that I believe was taken, and if you'll notice the last line of that post he alludes that very few can excell at both: it's a most-some combination. I think that pressuring the students to be the best at both at the same time is unrealistic (except for Rabbi YB"S, the Lubavitcher [zt"l](shlit"a), and a few other)
The history of YU has shown that it's like a blanket that is too short, will never cover top and bottom at the same time.
When's your next post coming up?
Choveiv Am, I'm writing an article for the Commentator about student blogging on campus. Please consider having an interview with me over the phone sometime tomorrow at your convenience.
nu, will you agree to the interview? Lets talk about why you went into blogging, your purpose in this blog, and other relevant questions necessary to craft a Commentator article. Publicity in The Commentator will probably be great advertising for you.
call me at 516-524-7070, or email at 204noble@gmail.com
I would rather not get involved with the Commentator. Also, my purpose is to raise awareness and activity. Hopefully, all the issues will be addressed. That is to say: the point of this blog is to make itself obsolete.
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