The Philosophy Of Journalism

I was on the bus today returning from my weekly visit to Yerushalayim's unemployment office [so exciting!!] and there was almost a violent incident. On my bus sat a women who was dressed, nebuch, as if she couldn't afford but the most minimal amount of clothing. Or possibly she had a skin condition that required her to expose her skin to the sun. Or maybe she simply suffered from amnesia and forgot to get dressed this morning. Whatever the reason - she wasn't dressed. Here is where is gets scary.

A Charedi man walked by her. Oh booooyyyyy - according to what we read in the papers this is going to get ugly. However, he didn't use any physical violence or even call her a popular name such as the one Rachav made famous. Another man walked by - he also didn't say a word. And then another and then yet another, but not a peep. Now this woman was dressed in a way that insulted these men's religious sensibilities and made them uncomfortable. She made me uncomfortable and I am not even so religious [this Elul I am going to try to fix that...].

Then I thought - this happens tens of thousands of times a day. A women dresses immodestly and Charedi men say nothing - they just try to avoid looking because it would contaminate their souls.

In extremely-extremely rare circumstances, far less than 000.0001 percent of the cases, something will be said or done in the way of verbal or physical abuse. We all know what will make to the anti-semitic anti-religious papers such as the Jerusalem Post or Ha-aretz - that extremely rare case. But what about the countless people who say and do nothing despite the discomfort caused to them? That won't make it to the papers because the media is interested in what is abnormal and atypical. Remember one of the basic rules of journalism - When a dog bites a man, that is not a story. But when a man bites a dog, THAT is a story.

People who spend so much time reading newspapers and surfing Internet news sites begin to think that that exception is the rule and that the abnormal is the norm. It is not true. Most teachers are NOT pedophiles רח"ל. The less than one percent who are get famous. Most Charedim aren't nutso. The less than one percent who are get famous. Most men aren't homosexual, certainly not Orthodox ones. But the tiny percentage who are will get a ton of press. A regular guy with a wife and kids who is attracted only to his wife and does nothing worse than occasionally talking in between aliyos during krias hatorah is not newsworthy. In order to get famous one needs to do really bad stuff. That is what the media is looking for.

So sweetest friends - now that Elul begins, do yourself a favor. Try to disconnect from the news sites as much as possible. Nothing will happen if you don't know exactly how emotionally and spiritually ill Anthony Weiner is. All reading this filth does is drag your mind [that is used for Torah] through the mud. The Nefesh Hachaim famously says that when one thinks of Hashem, AT THAT MOMENT his soul experiences bliss [which he doesn't feel because the body constitutes a barrier]. What then can we say about one who thinks of satanic cult followers who murder their parents and other "lovely" daily news stories?? At that moment his soul is in the deepest pit of gehenom.

Don't we want to be elevated, holy and pure? The way to do that is to focus on all that is elevated holy and pure:-).

Love and blessings!