By Rabbi Yair Hoffman for 5tjt.com On the one hand, he is perceived by many asboth lovable and adorable.  His speech patterns, his angelic and child-like facial countenance, remind us all of that cutey-pie roly-poly little boy who was cutely defiant of the teacher and principal back in fifth or sixth grade – a defiance that always exacerbated both of them.  It is just that that cutey-pie little boy is now 58 years old. On the other hand, his antics and statements have inspired hundreds to openly defy authority.  The first time that most Jews outside of Boro Park really heard about him was when he went around with bolt-cutters in hand, opening parks that the city had bolted shut.  There were cheers, praises, and ovations. But is this what we want to teach our children – to openly defy the law and relish it?   And how is it exactly that he has become our de-facto leader? The rallies in Boro Park highlighted the burning of masks. Many cheered, others were horrified. Do not masks represent the very symbol of protection against a disease that has killed thousands and thousands among us?  One frum journalist was called a Nazi by the adorable cutie-pie, and, according to many counts, he encouraged a crowd of people to chase him down.  Are these excesses or is this person an emerging Jewish leader among us?  If they are excesses, why has no responsible Jewish leader come forward to say enough is enough? The ways of our parents and grandparents have always been not to draw attention to ourselves – either for bad or for good.  Has our rallying in the streets, and our burning of masks, earned a new respect for us among the citizenry?  Is America different?  Has Boro Park become the new Peoria, the traditional test-marketing venue for America? Also, what do halacha and Torah sources have to say about all of this?  Finally, how did we get here? UNDERSTANDING THE FRUSTRATION First of all, we must understand that such a situation has emerged through the combination of three unique factors and circumstances: Unprecedented pressures of both a financial nature and a socio-religious/spatial nature. Openly hypocritical statements and behaviors of our politicians that border on anti-Semitism. The lack of clear answers and solutions from our religious and political leaders. Let us briefly discuss each of them. THE FIRST FACTOR The authorities have closed down our businesses, and have prevented us from making a living.  Now, in the second wave, they are randomly and unfairly closing down our businesses once again, devastating our incomes, and are randomly and unfairly limiting our social activities.  We cannot even take our children out to play – because they have removed and restricted every venue. We are cooped up in our homes with children, with lots of children. They forbade our schools, our camps, our local parks.  They have chained our women indoors while the men scramble to eke out a living. We cannot attend our funerals.  We cannot celebrate Bar Mitzvahs. We cannot celebrate our weddings.  We cannot even attend synagogues or go to schools and learn our Torah.  They have taken away our life-blood – our very souls. And in terms of finances – they have shuttered our businesses to such an extent that a […]
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