The media loves shock value. They love the idea of someone growing up very frum and completely rejecting it . There are also quite a few who have grown up Chassidish or Yeshivish and now are Modern Orthodox. While not as radical as those who go off the derech , their path is no less important. Though there are the Deborah Feldmans of the world, there are also those who remain shomer shabbos despite their "rebellion". No one talks about these types. So I have. I have much more respect for those who remain observant. It is oh so hip to be off the derech but it is much more hip in my opinion to stay on the derech even if one's derech is slightly different than the derech you started on.
Many of those who have shifted to the left are those who remain single. I think that there are more who have shifted to the left than those who have gone off the derech completely. Those who shift more radically hog all of the spotlight.
4 comments:
This is an important topic.
It's my impression that few people who go "OTD" stop at MO. Instead they leave all the way and even once they're out they still look with disdain at MO as a form of fake Judaism.
It's easy to think in black and white terms. I hate Chareidism therefore I hate all Orthodoxy. It's much more difficult to say that I want to maintain a connection with the Creator and that the flawed people around me who are abusing His rules aren't reflective of Him which means I need a new system to connect to him. This is a far rarer thing to see.
I think that perhaps those I know who remained shomer shabbos but not charedi also had parents who did not give up on their children when they say that they were not going to turn out just like them. I have a friend who saw that her daughter was not cut out for bais yaakov so she sent her to a more open minded school. Her daughter is still frum.
Hmm, my thoughts are this:
I have veered more to the left, but am still completely Orthodox.
However, my shidduch chances are a lot less.
If I was ultra-Orthodox I'd be in good shape, and if I'd be completely off I'd be in good shape.
But I'm stuck in the dreaded middle.
Yes well welcome to the club. Those of us who are in the middle have it the most difficult. The pickle in the middle.
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