Vatochalna Noshim Piryam, we will soon mournfully say on Tisha B’av. How in the world can a loving mother eat her precious child, what greater love in the world is their than a mother to her offspring? In the time of the Churban, it was a most terrifying and horrifying situation that brought about such tragic results.
I was shocked to realize that this is actually going on in our day and age, right here in our backyard.
The Gemora says that it is worse to make someone sin than to kill them. Think about that, killing isn’t as bad as making someone do an Aveira!
Have you ever noticed in many of the popular local stores there are movies for sale and rent? Would you buy or rent movies while your shopping with your sweet and precious Cheder Yinglach, whom you Bentch and Daven for that they grow up to be as great as Moshe Rabeinu? I was in (moderated) today and witnessed just such a scene. For shame!
I am not on the Madreiga to give a stranger, especially a strange woman Tochacha. But let’s be real, if a “Heimish” translate at will, woman can shamelessly be renting movies in a store full of Frumme Yidden, it means that our collective shame is gone or its becoming socially acceptable. Either way, this is a new low in Kedushas Hamachane.
Dear TLS Editor – why do you publish such stupidity? Renting a movie is equal to mother eating her children out of starvation?
Old news. The (moderated)has line of “heimish” looking people r”l. Waiting to rent. When I was a kid in lakewood the few people that did rent movies went about 20 min. out of lakewood and put on a baseball cap down over their faces. I guess now people feel it nothing wrong
Now you are comparing renting movies to Tisha bav and mothers eating their children? The temple wasnt destroyed because people watched rented movies. It was because people thought they were holy when really they worshipped idols and did not care about their fellow man. If there were movies to rent back then, it would not have been destroyed because of that. Dont compare. Its no comparison. Not everyone can be holy like you, although you are on the internet which has worse content than any movie you could rent at one of those rental boxes.
Anonymous, when I was a kid in Lakewood (not that long ago), we used to meet some pretty “choshuv” families in the library where we’d all be renting movies. To the OP – if you were trying to make a point, it got lost somewhere in your ridiculous article.
The biggest yeridas Hadoros is in the area of sensitivity. 20 years ago, when speaking about Toeiva marriage, one couldn’t say the word that begins with the letter “g”. It was a word that was uncomfortable to say. Today, we have no problem saying g.. marriage without hesitation. We became de-sensitized. How sad!
Its bad enought to ruin yourself, why destroy the kids neshomas!
the movies one can rent in the library are ones like charlie and the chocolate factory and maybe some other historical documentaries nothing like what they have in a rental machine and yes it is a big problem today that people think their holy yet they watch movies people should be more realistic about where they are holding in ruchniyus and what they should change and i agree movies are terrible but doesnt make one who watches them a terrible person necessarily but its something klal yisrael should change and may the zchus of tshuva bring mashiach
This ain;t new the mashigaich said exactly that in his shmooze last week
As previous posts have stated, this has been going on in Lakewood for a long time. I raised my kids here and we definitely rented movies on occasion.. Most grew up to be very fine, actually very super level, bnei torah who are now leading very torahdik homes. The key is to know which movies to rent, not to assur movies altogether.
I almost think the writer of this article is joking. How can you with a straight face write an OP and send it in to a publication that is on the internet. The level of tumah on the internet is so much worse, even if you rented every movie in the machine and watched it straight it wouldn’t come to 5 minutes alone on the internet in regards of potential avieros. Please keep your kruma opinions to yourself and GET OFF THE INTERNET!!!!!!!
I have watched classical movies and enjoyed them immensely .but if I am honest with myself I feel the effect it had on me. I hope that one day I will be disgusted to hum the songs I find so charming at this point. A movie is a movie no matter how good and clean it is.
to #7.. your comparing charlie and the chocolate factory to the civil war, as both being historical documentaries…..? maybe you should rent the movies and see the difference.
this is absolutely rediculous.
How come letters like this aren’t moderated? Because it’s from a community” member?
#9, I would like to ask you a question. Do you know that it is perfectly allowed, al pi halacha, to give a young child treife food? Why? Because they’re not chayav yet in all the mitzvos. They’re not bat/bar mitzvah yet (which is why we let little children turn the lights on/off on shabbos, play with muktzah toys, etc.)
But would any sane parent REALLY give their child treife food?? ABSOLUTELY NOT! Why??? Because treife food causes tim-tum ha lev, no matter how young the child is when fed it.
But there’s plenty of people who ate treife food by accident (like the story with the shochtim in Monsey), and still grew up to be fine, wonderful people with Torahdik homes, right??
Now, you say you allowed your children to watch movies when they were young, and they still grew up to be fine, wonderful people, with “Torahdik homes”, right? You claim that the trick is knowing which movies to rent, right?
Oh, but wait, what you’re actually doing is giving your children treife food to eat! It’s perfectly kosher, right? It’s perfectly allowed, they’re still young, right? Oh, so it might cause them tim-tum ha lev, but they’ll still grow up to be good people, nothing wrong with that, right?
Your logic is sick and twisted. If you wouldn’t give your child treife food in his hands to eat, than don’t let him watch movies, no matter how “clean” they are! You daven every day that they should grow up to be talmidei chachamim and yirei Hashem, how the hell do you expect them to achieve that, when you YOURSELF are inhibiting them?? Just because you don’t “SEE” any effect the movies have on them, doesn’t mean it isn’t there! We don’t SEE the tumah on our hands when we wake up in the morning, but we still wash our hands anyways! We don’t SEE that Hashem is everywhere around us, but He is STILL THERE!
And I am so appalled by the comments here from other people. The OP is right on target. Anyone who starts pulling the “hypocrite, you’re on the internet” card, is someone who knows they’re wrong, and don’t want to admit it!
What meshugass is this? It was a lipa shmeltzer CD. Lipa is making yiddishe tapes and movies . Whats wrong with that? a lady has no mitsvas essa to learn torah all day, she could go and watch a lipa CD
#15, it is not permitted al pi halacha to give your children treife food. if a koton is eating neveilus there may be no obligation to stop him.
@15 You are correct with the idea of your comment, but practicaly speaking it is specificaly forbidden MIN HATORAH to give young children Treif food as we have a drasha Lihazir Gidolim ol Hakitonim (To warn adults on children ie not to give them treif)
I guess I was a kid a little longer time ago than you.
To # 15, I and comment #9 and I’m not sure what kind of tarfus or timtum halev you were exposed to, since my children would NEVER use the language you resorted to, nor do some of them even have access to internet as you do! I guess that timtum can come from many places
we are all soo frum now, remember when we were kids and watched charlie brown, the little rascles and the 3 stooges? Now that we got older we got frummer and proudly say not my kids?! Give me a break with his fake face already. Dr Ploni’s office shows videos. They sell them at ploni stores in town. If it’s such a problem the Rabbonim would speak out about it. Did you ask your Rav? Do you have one to ask or are you a do it yourselfer????
Take this article down if u want me to read from the scoop in future! This is the worst article u ever put in & should b ashamed of yourselves.mind your own business & get off the internet mr or mrs so & so…this person is prob not happy with his life or yiddishkeit
I have seen much confusion out there on these issues for a long time. Maybe I can clear some things up.
1) We should all be able to admit that many many things are technically “assur.” A not-blind person going into Target and similar shops is one of those things.
2) We should all be able to understand that unfortunately we do these things and people should not shame their fellow because of them. In such situations and in our day and age positive motivation should be used by the hamon am. Gedolim have much more lee-way in how they feel appropriate to address these issues.
3) These deep rooted behaviors are often not easily correctable. This enters the field of aino yochol lichvosh. Such actions should be kept private and one should not be proud of them, but neither should one feel overly shamed and guilty, because that is the ataz hayetzer to drag a person even deeper by losing hope. Definitely give a good cry on Yom Kippur and always hope and try for an eventual cure, but live life with optimism and pride. There is so much good one can do. Rov zechuyos is the ticket to Gan Eden. Nothing, however, is accounted for, but be confident in HaShem’s grace and mercy, and accept His corrective measures with love.
4) The greatest by-product one gets out of michshol is the trait of humilty. Don’t lose that by fooling yourself that you are a tzadick gomur. It’s often these “tzadikim” who put down others to further repress their own guilt.
Wait! I just chapped! They were probably buying Rav Schach videos.
why is a mother diff than a father renting movies or bochrim????? And you know what…. Maybe you should mind your own buissness
Don’t complain that your kids don’t get accepted into school after the whole town has seen u renting movies in shoprite. WE are watching you!
To all bloggers, no one has any business to get involved in other people’s private lives. What one does in the privacy of their own home, IS NO ONE ELSE’S BUSINESS. PERIOD. That being said, if someone IS doing something wrong, and others know or realize it, if they are in the position to help the person themselves, or can advise someone else to help them, then it is a Chiyuv (obligation) to try and help. Its a Mitzvas Asei to Chastise someone from Ones Nation. But it MUST be done in the PROPER WAY, BY THE PROPER PERSON.
Lakewood today, is not the Lakewood of yesteryear. The community as a whole must realize that, and deal with the changes in the PROPER WAY. MOST PEOPLE living here NOW, were not brought up as sheltered as the original Dwellers were. We must realize that, & understand that their level where they’re holding in Hashkofa might not fit in WITH YOURS. Accept it, & understand it. You just try and be the best person YOU can be. Hopefully everyone else will follow. The way to help others IN THIS CASE, is by being the best YOU can be. Hatzlocha.
It appears that the OP wanted to state an opinion, one of a higher moral ground. He assumed that by dramatizing the message he will drive the tough point home successfully. However, he failed to do so because it makes him seem like a holier-than-thou (moderated) (as many commentors have helpfully pointed out), rather than someone who is simply bothered by someone else publicly acting more permissively than the writer affords himself.
Having said that, i believe the writer did have a point buried in his post, which he vastly overplayed.
To all those taking the “offensive defense” by screaming to the OP “got off the internet if you’re so holy”; it might help to make a sane and guilt free contemplation on whether it is a bright action to take your children to (moderated), and stand in front of a machine which displays images of various stages of depravity (all within the confines of legal moral standards of course) even if you are going to rent Spongebob Squarepants. I am not admonishing anyone for showing movies to their children, it is not my place to do so, nor will any anonymous post online be able to change anyone’s Chinuch MO.
The OP expressed displeasure over the very concept of renting a movie, I think that is every parent’s decision what is acceptable in their respective home, but we should try to lessen the evil infiltrating into our homes. If you DO decide to show your children age appropriate movies, try to shield them from seeing ads for all the other ones which aren’t.
Happy Hunting.
Many of us that did grow up with movies and television are sorry we did.
Although the affects of old movies (the King and I, etc.) may be minimal, and there may be some positive things in them too, the bigger problem is it opens exposure to all movies and all TV. Once it’s an option, it’s hard to be selective. We had a TV at home when I was young. In addition to old movies there were afternoon soap operas that were very inappropriate. Today things are only much, much worse.
Some people might want to allow books that are known to be ok with good content or moral lessons (eg Helen Keller), but movies means we allow MOVIES and that can only lead to no good.