A friend sent me this piece.
Comment abt. putting people in boxes or attaching labels. [Boxes are for corpses. Labels are for cans].
I know MO Jews who are more serious abt. their learning, davening and Halacha in general than some "Charedim" I know. And some Charedim are much more serious about their Avodas Hashem than other MO Jews.
I know MO or even barely BO [Barely Orthodox] Jews who are much better abt. Bein Adam La-chaveiro than some much more seemingly pious Jews. They are more willing to do favors, are more generous and more sensitive. I also know many very frum people whose frumkeit actually includes a deep concern for Bein Adam La-chaveiro issues.
There is no group that has a monopoly on good middos or bad middos. There are all types in all groups.
There are Satmar chasidim who are more open minded than some MO people. This must be true b/c there are plenty of MO people who are quite close minded.
We have to break stigmas. They are not universally true. Every human being is an entire world. We are all beyond complex and putting superficial tags on people is not only unfair but false and misleading.
I know plenty of Goyim who are much nicer and honest people than a lot of Jews I know. Sorry. I wish it weren't true. But it is. Of course I would rather my daughter marry a Jew with a lot of faults than marry a Goy-Tzadik-Gamur. [Obviously I shoot for Jew-Tzadik-Gamur]. There are also some Goyim who are Beasts. Animals walking on two legs. But there are plenty who are very upright and decent. There are also Jews who are cruel and evil. Too many.
This brings us to one of my favorite streams of literature - Mussar!!!
Mussar teaches that man could be greater than an angel - or a Hitler ימ"ש. He can also be a mixture of the two!!! We are complex.
The LESSON:
Says Mishlei 4-13:
