Hyehudi.org

ז”ל ספר חרדים פרק ס”ו סי’ ק”י:

כמה קשה עונש המסיג גבול חבירו, בונה ביתו בלא צדק, ואוי ואבוי למסיג גבול המלך השם צבאות, להרהר בבית תפלתו או מדרשו בדברי העולם או לדבר בעניניו, הגם לכבוש את המלכה עמו בבית. ואסרו אפילו לומר אסותא למעתעטש בבית המדרש, קל וחומר שאר דבור, ואם הדבר צורך, יצא לחוץ ידבר, וכתיב ומקדשי תיראו, וכדי בזיון וקצף. אם באומרו דברי קדושה ותפלה ולבו בל עמו, עליו נאמר אותי עזבו מקור מים חיים לחצוב להם בורות בורות נשברים.

A father brings his son to the Rav\Rabbi\Rebbe for a bracha on the momentous occasion of beginning the awesome mitzva of wearing Tefillin. The personage gives over a few words of fiery inspiration, making sure not to go too far over the head and heart of the excited youth.

And then, the rabbi often does something extra: He extracts a “kabbalah”, or good resolution from the impressionable boy. Something along the lines of: “Although this isn’t the strict letter of the law, since tefillin are so holy and symbolic, many Jews were very careful with them… Please declare you won’t talk while wearing tefillin!”

Wait, what?!

Because tefillin are so great, therefore they should be taken off to have a short conversation or a snack? Because tefillin are so great, we should observe baseless chumros? Because tefillin are so great, they should be treated poorly, by making it a choice between either tefillin or daily living?!

At least they don’t mention the horrific idea of the Besamim Rosh (it wouldn’t surprise me if Satmar does, however).

Aderabba, we should try and wear them normally, now a slowly-spreading phenomenon among gloriously rebellious yeshiva youth!

An interesting academic paper here…

A good quote:

Censorship is not just used to prevent publication that may harm the common good or its values. It also shapes the values of the community and its members and eradicates their differences in the public sphere.

Thanks to a reader for the tip!

From “Torn at the Roots THE CRISIS OF JEWISH LIBERALISM IN POSTWAR AMERICA” by MICHAEL E. STAUB:

In one especially memorable 1970 cartoon entitled “On the Problems Inherent in Making a Small Donation to a Revolutionary Cause,” Kirschen imagined a dialogue between a proud and assertive black militant and a flip and unfunny Jewish New Leftist.

In many respects, it served as a parable for a new generation of young radical Jews who sought to reconcile the historic legacy of Jewish support for black civil rights activism with the assertion of a distinctively Jewish struggle for ethnic identity. With the language of serious Holocaust consciousness brilliantly here put into the mouth of the black militant, Kirschen succinctly presented once again the analysis that New Left Jews were as lame as the jokes they told—both pathetic and self-hating. In short, Kirschen believed, as did many radical Zionists, that the New Left Jew could learn a lot from the black militant (if he would only listen) about the healthful symbiotic link necessary between one’s ethnic consciousness and one’s political identity. Kirschen’s parable made clear how it was the self-aware and proud black who must finally be the one to spell out for the clueless and self-negating Jew that the urge to repress ethnic loyalties—or swap them for an emotional (or monetary) investment in blackness—constituted something shameful, even traitorous.

FOOTNOTE:

“On the Problems Inherent in Making a Small Donation to a Revolutionary Cause” (1970) appeared in Jewish Radicalism, edited by Jack Nusan Porter and Peter Dreier. Courtesy of Yaakov Kirschen. FIGURE 6.11