A documentary was recently done about second generation Baalei Teshuva. The director is a irreligious OTD who was raised by Baalei Teshuva before he rebelled broke their hearts and left Hashem and the Torah. I am sure he is emotionally scarred. But being emotionally scarred does not excuse one from publicly stating outright, nonsenical anti-religious lies.
"At some point, many of them start to differentiate between religion and being Charedi. Some start understanding that being Charedi is an ethnic and ritualistic identity and has nothing to do with religion.”
I live in a 100 percent Charedi neighborhood. The only non-charedim are people who come in to work, like the Arab construction workers. So what is an average day like in most of our lives? We get up in the morning and say Modeh Ani. First words of the day are thanking Hashem for life. Then we go to shul and put on tallis and tefillin and daven. Then we send our kids off to their schools for religious studies. Then we go to our yeshivos where we spend most of the next 12 hours plus hours learning Torah. Except for the time we are davening mincha and maariv or eating which is preceded and followed by Brachos. Our home life is guided by halacha: Only kosher food, magazines and entertainment may enter the home. No touching one's wife 2 weeks a month. She often works hard at a job to ensure that the husband can devote himself to Torah study. When we talk to each other, our words are peppered with constant references to Hashem and Torah.
But this bird brain claims that being Charedi has nothing to do with religion. It is but an "ethical and ritualistic IDENTITY". Nothing to do with religion. Nothing at all.
I quote Einstein:
Two things are infinite - The Universe and human stupidity. And I am not sure about the first one.
I feel obligated to call people out on such egregious accusations and inaccuracies. I would much prefer to be giving shiurim and that people spend their time listening to them. But if nobody else is doing this - I have to. I saw this documentary mentioned on a religious website and the author was much too kind and accepting. I think that it is GREAT to speak the truth!
If I am wrong, I invite feedback to set me straight.
