'Don't complain about the snow on your neighbor's roof when your own doorstep is unclean.'
Harav R' Confucius
I often read the secular press and see how they pontificate and relate to the Charedim in such condescending and patronizing terms [and worse]. As if the Charedim are a bunch of little children who need the Chilonim to educate and enlighten them. The reason this is so absurd is that the secular society in Israel is ideologically bankrupt. They jettisoned 5,000 years of a glorious tradition in favor of the latest western fads in thought, dress and behavior.
A third of Israelis has a high level of anxiety and one fifth is suffering from serious depression. I don't know if these numbers includes Charedim but it CERTAINLY reflects the situation in the secular world. Domestic violence complaints in Israel spiked by over 300 percent since 2019. An estimated 25 percent of Israeli women are or have been in an abusive relationship. They have drug problems, alcohol problems, and crime problems. Over 20 thousand Israelis are in jail. Almost none of them are Charedi.
Instead of cleaning up their own dirty porch - they complain about and look down upon, the Charedim. Maybe instead they can LEARN from the Charedim. How to build large and close knit families, how to honor elders, how to give Tzdaka and do chesed. How to educate children to be pure. And much much more.
Charedim are also by and large very intelligent. After all - they spend the bulk of their life at least until marriage studying and analyzing difficult and complex texts.
I saw a recent article that said that Charedim don't know how to speak to their children about sexuality. Now with the Walder debacle they are in crisis. They don't know what to do. But WE, the enlightened, can teach them.
Actually, in contrast to the rest of the world, Charedim believe sexuality is for after marriage. It is not a topic of conversation unless necessary [like to warn children to stay away from predators or to help deal with issues that might arise at puberty and the like]. So instead of the average Westerner who by the age of ten hears about and sees thousands of acts that should be done behind closed doors in our sick, hyper sexed culture, they don't talk about it and focus instead on letting children be children. Our girls are not influenced by corrupt movie stars and models but instead are encouraged to be pure, modest and holy.
But Charedi youth are not so naive. When they learn Tanach and Chazal they get the education necessary for them at this time. So maybe the secular people should strive to emulate Charedim and educate their children to keep their hands to themselves and their eyes down until marriage. That would solve a lot of problems.
But what Chilonim can learn MOST from Charedim is that the Charedim have meaning in their lives. Not contrived, superficial, subjective meaning [like soccer or becoming rich] but true, lasting, eternal meaning.
ראשית חכמה יראת השם. The very beginning of wisdom starts with being aware [יראה - ראיה] of Hashem. Without that - one has ONLY foolishness.
Do Charedim have problems? BIG-TIME!! Like EVERY OTHER SOCIETY ON THE PLANET. But the patronizing attitude of the secular [especially that of the so called " intelligentsia"] is misplaced and misguided.
