Q and A about Chaseedishe life

Mevater

Tue, Nov 21 2006, 11:32 am

Blossom wrote:

Quote:

But the Chassidishe main goal of their lifestyle is to live and dress think and act as people did many years ago in the Shtetl, and not surrender to any pressures.

LOL, Sorry, couldn't keep myself back. That must be a new version of what Chassishe lifestyle is all about. I guess you learn something new everyday.

Are you saying that this ideology in addition to Shmiras Torah U' Mitzvos, which is practiced by all Orthodox Jews, does NOT play prime importance in their lives?

I'll accept it if you have a different opinion, but please tell me what, in your opinion, does differentiate Chassidim?

Crayon210

Tue, Nov 21 2006, 11:35 am

I don't think that Chasidism focuses on removing yourself from the secular world and getting back to the shtetl.

The focus is on Torah and mitzvos, with differences including a Rebbe and the study of Chasidus, and the demands that those have on a person's avodah.

Mevater

Tue, Nov 21 2006, 11:53 am

Crayon210 wrote:

Don't they go the extra mile to avoid modern behavior and live as much as possible like generations before, more than any other Orthodox group (which is all good)?

challi

Tue, Nov 21 2006, 12:00 pm

Quote:

But the Chassidishe main goal of their lifestyle is to live and dress think and act as people did many years ago in the Shtetl, and not surrender to any pressures.

Quote:

Are you saying that this ideology in addition to Shmiras Torah U' Mitzvos, which is practiced by all Orthodox Jews, does NOT play prime importance in their lives?

I really don't understand where you got that impression. I don't think that nowadays chassidim are anything like what used to be in the shtetl. At least no more than a litvish jew is like back in lithuania, or a yekke in germany. Everyone has their minhagim, everyone has their levush, isn't yiddishkeit all about mesorah and passing it down to generations? Chasidim aren't amish Confused

. With time there has been a great deal of change, its just not evident to the untrained eye. If you ask any rebbe, they will not say that living how they did in the shtetls is of PRIME IMPORTANCE IN THEIR LIVES!

Sorry for asking but is your observation something that comes from experience with chassidishe ppl or is it something based on your own assumptions? Sometimes when people look so different to us we tend to come to rather hasty conclusions only to realize that they are not as different or foreign as they seem.[/b]

Mevater

Tue, Nov 21 2006, 12:14 pm

I have many Chassidish blood relatives and close friends.

My statement about living as in the Shtetl, doesn't mean going to the well to fetch water, or not having telephones and refrigerators. It's a matter of interpretation. It's a relative categorization of the sub-group as a whole, as opposed to other sub-groups of Orthodoxy. Chassidim, in their appearance and other important aspects, seem to more closely resemble old times, than any other sub-group.

What was done in the Shtetl, by and large, was beautiful. The carrying over of these beautiful values by so many is great.

I didn't mean to offend anyone.

challi

Tue, Nov 21 2006, 12:25 pm

Sorry if I came across as harsh I didn't mean to. No offense taken :-)

Maybe I'm so used to the dress and the minhagim that I have trouble to see them as something as old or "shtetl like" any more than a man walking around in a black hat (which by the way I see a lot too on old non jewish men). All sorts of levush I see as a uniform that identifies who you are and where you belong.

Crayon210

Tue, Nov 21 2006, 12:46 pm

letsbehonest wrote:

Crayon210 wrote:

Don't they go the extra mile to avoid modern behavior and live as much as possible like generations before, more than any other Orthodox group (which is all good)?

In what way do chasidim avoid modern behavior?

Mevater

Tue, Nov 21 2006, 1:09 pm

Crayon210 wrote:

letsbehonest wrote:

Crayon210 wrote:

Don't they go the extra mile to avoid modern behavior and live as much as possible like generations before, more than any other Orthodox group (which is all good)?

In what way do chasidim avoid modern behavior?

Strict avoidance of advanced education, fostering stricter dress codes, to start.

Mevater

Tue, Nov 21 2006, 1:47 pm

Crayon210 wrote:

Secular education is a halachic question.
The dress code: tznius is a halachic issue, the clothes is just tradition. That's not to avoid modern behavior.

Secular education is a halachic question.- please explain.

the clothes is just tradition.- Do they or don't they dress more similarly to Shtetl ways of old, than most Orthodox Jews? Especially men. How many non Chassidish men wear fur hats, knickers, etc.?

Crayon210

Tue, Nov 21 2006, 2:04 pm

Please see all the threads about secular education and its halachic issues.

Wearing traditional chasidic garb is to maintain connections to tradition and to the Chasidus and to the Rebbe, not to stay away from looking modern. That doesn't really make sense.

(Also, there are issues with davka dressing like the non jews, and different people interpret this issue differently.)

Mevater

Tue, Nov 21 2006, 2:08 pm

Crayon210 wrote:

Wearing traditional chasidic garb is to maintain connections to tradition and to the Chasidus and to the Rebbe, AND to stay away from looking modern!

Can we agree to disagree?

amother

Tue, Nov 21 2006, 2:29 pm

I have a sincere question for chassidishe women.
as I was driving by the chassidish neighborhood, I noticed all the girls walking home from school exactly then. I was surprised that out of the 30 or so girls I saw only 2 were wearing backpacks.

do girls not get homework?

the rest carried a small purse or bag that couldnt hold more than a few papers.
the 2 that had heavy backpacks, what did they have in there that noone else needed to have?

Crayon210

Tue, Nov 21 2006, 2:48 pm

letsbehonest wrote:

Crayon210 wrote:

Wearing traditional chasidic garb is to maintain connections to tradition and to the Chasidus and to the Rebbe, AND to stay away from looking modern!

Can we agree to disagree?

I don't understand what you're basing your ideas on, your observations? Because I learn chassidus and have never heard of this as a fundamental of chassidus. Confused

Mama Bear

Tue, Nov 21 2006, 9:44 pm

amother wrote:

Since I dont know whichschool or neighborhood this was, I can't answer!

Mama Bear

Tue, Nov 21 2006, 11:20 pm

are you talking about the spoken Ivrit whichis the official language of medinas yisroel or loshon hakodesh as in our tfillos and seforim? We have nno problem whatsoever with loshon hakodesh, we just dont learn from seforim beause the Satmr REbbe z"l held that it's assure ot learn from seforim with girls. IVrit is a traifa language, made by mechaleli shabbos for a secuular purpose.

613

Wed, Nov 22 2006, 10:11 am

I"m not sure if I"m misunderstanding your question, Chavamom. But you don't have to know hebrew to daven. Kids learn to daven/say brachos in pre-school that is way before they understand the meaning of the words they are saying.