When you look at the comments section on some of these frum sites, where people are revealing their true selves because they remain anonymous, it is extremely distressing. To see the level of discourse, the superficiality, the anger, the self righteousness etc. etc.
Of course we are much better than many the non-Jewish commenters all over the world wide web, where vulgarity is so ubiquitous and superficiality, ignorance and the absolute ignorance of their abject superficiality reign, but still. It is sad to see. We are not here just to be better than the goyim. They reference sex at every turn and in the most public forums and we don't. They have no concept of tznius and we do etc. as evidenced by the fact that in the western world, a women "dressing up" means that she wears very little. The fancier the occasion - the less clothing. I am embarrassed to live in the same world as such people. That is not enough. Are we going to go to shomayim and Hashem will reward us for not picking up women at bars and not cursing like sailors? I hope not. We are expected to be much much much better that that.
Torah is מחכימת פתי. It makes the fool - wise. If people would spend their free minutes learning a mishna with the Bartenura and Tosfos Yom Tov, and with the Rebbe Akiva Eiger for dessert, instead of checking a news site for the ninth time that day - they would be muuuuuuch smarter and would make a visible dent in their פתי. Or instead of checking a silly blog to see what the latest lashon hara-hoc is - they would learn the Maharal's sefer Netzach Yisrael on the galus and geulah - OH HOW MUCH WISER THEY WOULD BECOME!!!!
Not everybody is expected to be a towering intellectual, but we aspire to more than the second grade level thinking and attitudes that is so prevalent.
#amindisaterriblethingtowaste
#amindisaterriblethingtowaste
