I remember learning in school that Hashem sends the cure before the sickness. Modern science tells us to eat healthfully and busy ourselves with preventive care so we will stay healthy. Kind of cool that this kind of is a proof for the cure being given before the illness or the solution being sent before the problem.
I always think of this adage when I see people who are off the derech. Often there are good reasons why these people are off the derech that perhaps could have been prevented if frum society was different. Once someone has flown the coop so to speak it is harder to reclaim him. It is much easier to keep someone frum before they have pushed to their limits and have left the fold. It really behooves us to try to find a way to fix things before they have reached the point of no return. I do not think that this is achieved by having a tighter leash on young people. I think that the problems are deeper than just trying to tighten the blinders. People do not want to admit that things need to be fixed which is such a shame. The more issues get swept under the rug, the bigger the mess becomes. The solutions are out there, we just have to see them. I don't mean just the educators or the rabbis. I mean all of us. It takes a village.
5 comments:
I believe that if someone goes off the derech, it's more about family than society in general.
I agree, there are problems with the community. At the same time, though, don't these individuals make the choice to leave the community?
I think that it really depends on the situation. Some people go off the derech because the have a rotten family and others go off the derech due to bad experiences they have had or their sensitivity to things that are wrong in frum society . Then again no matter what ones family is like or if one encounters bad situations it is really how one processes things as to whether or not one goes off the derech. It is too easy to just blame someone's family. Friends, education and media play a large part as well.
So, we can't just give a person's family "credit," but also friends, education and media? Awesome, let's spread the blame around.
Does the person who changes get any responsibility for changing?
sparrow- lol. of course its ultimately the person themselves who gets the credit for changing. but to me i think its a shame that they do leave frumkeit thats all. its not that being a religious jew is the only way to lead a good life, its just that i do consider it to be a good way to live and most who leave frumkeit don't usually wake up one morning and do so. there is usually a reason and there is a lot that leads up to it. and yes i think that it would be good if going off the derech could be prevented.
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