I don’t usually read Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz, but here’s his latest column.
First, he points out that the Leftist, lying “power religion” in the West seems to be mostly winning, so far. He adds some pessimistic speculation about politics I didn’t understand.
Then Rabbi Lipschutz asks the question we hear all around:
Where does that leave us? How are we to live our lives in a period such as the one we now face? Should we engage in outreach, attempting to explain the Torah to those who mock and vilify us? Should we demonstrate the truths that have been guiding us ever since we stood at Har Sinai? After all, we are in the 21st century now. Perhaps we should be using modern tools to explain to the world how wrong they are about us. Maybe they hate us because we have a marketing problem.
And he answers:
The first Rashi of the parsha quotes the Medrash Tanchuma, which states that the Soton and nations of the world mock us and ask for the rationale of this mitzvah. Therefore, says Rashi, the Torah spells out that Parah Adumah is a chok, a gezeirah min haShomayim, and we do not ask questions about it.
The nations of the world, and those who mock us and attempt to steer us from the path of our forefathers, question us and our practices. They say that the mitzvos are backward and without reason. We don’t answer them. We don’t try to explain it to them. We reinforce to ourselves that we are following the word of Hashem, which is a chok. This way, we are able to succeed and flourish in a world of sheker.
Well, not all the mitzvos are chukim, but OK. (Also, Charedi Judaism≠Torah Truth!)
For as long as people alive today can remember, gedolim such as the Chazon Ish and Rav Shach have been saying that the proper response to such situations is to add more yeshivos, more Bais Yaakovs, more elementary schools, and more kollelim. The way to respond to those who curse our existence, to those who seek to stem our growth and to the various festering issues, is by ignoring their calls and dedicating ourselves to increase our own study of Torah and to increase the study of Torah in general.
In our personal lives as well, when we are acting properly and people mock us and seek to harm us, our reputations, and things that we have worked hard to build up, our response shouldn’t be to get in the gutter with them. We should instead take the higher road and do our best to continue living our lives according to the Torah, halacha and darkei mussar.
We shouldn’t let detractors get us down and lead us to curtail our good actions. We should seek out seforim based on the Torah and mesorah to strengthen ourselves and give ourselves chizuk.
Life is tough enough without us stopping to engage with detractors of all types and fretting over the future.
Well Put (I would say it more aggressively than just “hunker down”)!