Between you and me, I have always been proud that 'our' media is not like everyone else's. In our media there is no ranting, no yellow articles, no slander and gossip. Our media provides pure information. Without all the yellow and disgusting that is typical of the media in the Western world.
In our media you will find Torah verses, laws, and stories of the righteous in high doses.
When I was interviewed for the program "Media Portfolio" on educational television and the host, Haim Zisowitz, asked me in horror how it was that I accepted the exclusion of women in the Haredi press. I proved to him that there are many women in the Haredi media, even in senior positions, and the difference between her and her general sister lies in one letter - PA.
In the Haredi, there is separation. Separation between women and men and separation from all ugliness and the like. Criminal stories are not mentioned, and gossip and slander are out of bounds.
But the last election proved him wrong, and I'll come back to that later.
Exodus from Egypt
Our section – Tzo – from the word Tzavta and Hivvar, begins with the verse "Command Aaron and his sons." The holy Rashi explains on a website that "there is no command but a word of prompting, from the beginning and for generations.".
Why specifically in the word "order" and not in the word "said" or "said"?
It is true that the mitzvot are called that because they "connect" between us and God. Mitzvah comes from the word tzavta and hiyober. But sometimes it is not enough to use the word mitzvah and it is necessary to add a command - command Aaron, there is no command but a word of encouragement.
There are commandments that are very easy to do. If we take stock of ourselves, we will discover that there are commandments that are difficult for us to keep. These are precisely the commandments that should serve as a "representative model" for our daily behavior.
Observance of the commandments should be done equally. All the commandments are the will of God, even those that are difficult for us to observe.
We are a week before Passover, which we have been celebrating ever since and because of the Exodus from Egypt - which we are commanded to remember every day, twice a day.
What is the great celebration and why must it be mentioned twice a day?
The exodus from Egypt and its borders must be remembered every day and for generations - "In every generation, a person must see himself as if he had come out of Egypt.".
Those straits that limit us in our daily lives and cause us to fail in some commandments more than others, symbolize that Egypt, which was essentially apostasy from the Creator. We are obligated to emerge from those straits every day, in every generation.
Must have "interest""
I heard a Hasidic story about a man who ascended to heaven after 'one hundred and twenty.' The man entered hell and saw people in mourning sitting around a large table laden with eye-catching delicacies with a wonderful aroma.
As he wondered at the sight before him, he noticed that they were holding very long forks that could not possibly be used to bring anything from the table to their mouths.
The man turned and went to Heaven. There the scene repeated itself. But here the people were seventy and full of pleasure. When he tried to understand the differences between the thin and emaciated people in Hell and the seventy in Heaven, he noticed that those in Heaven used the long forks to feed each other...
What would happen if our ultra-Orthodox parties, in the ultra-Orthodox media, acted as the people of Eden did? The ultra-Orthodox public today had 17 representatives in the Knesset, not 13. No one has yet been harmed by the support of others.
In the last election campaign, the echoes of which still resonate in many workplaces, educational settings, synagogues, and playgrounds, our public representatives, with the vigorous encouragement of "our" media, took the trouble to slander and starve the neighbors at the round table where the Haredi public sits.
In the end, everyone was left hungry...
This week I was listening to one of the current affairs programs and found myself feeling sorry for the unfortunate interviewer who was trying with all his might to get bad things out of one person about another.
I wrote to that interviewer that I was puzzled by his behavior, and he replied: "We have to create interest.".
And I wonder if, in the name of the God of ratings, it is permissible to do anything, even to spread gratuitous hatred and actually violate Torah prohibitions?
We are all prisoners.
This week I got into a conversation with a Jew who had completed renovation work on our house.
I understood from him that it had been only a decade since he had repented. He said that he had repented thanks to the grace of the Graha Yosef, and repeated: "I admire Maran.".
The man, who holds a bachelor's degree in communications from the University of the Negev, said painfully: "During the last elections, I didn't know my soul. I couldn't listen to the Haredi media. I didn't read Haredi newspapers. I didn't believe that they were full of slander.".
""Them? I came from that world to the world of holiness and received a dose of disgust that made me escape from current events.".
I told him: "You, more than others, as a holder of a degree in communications, should know that you must bring interest.".
He was silent, his face expressing open disgust.
After he left, I remembered that every morning before prayer, I say, "I receive upon myself the positive commandment of loving your neighbor as yourself.".
As I was writing this column, I came across a video that surprised me. The video asked the following questions: What party do Gilad Shalit, Ron Arad, and Pollard belong to? What party do the soldiers who fought in Protective Edge belong to? Who cares if Ron Arad is Ashkenazi or Sephardi? Secular or religious?
When your brother is in captivity, you don't care where he is from or what order he prays in. We are in captivity in exile in the hands of the evil inclination and we must join hands and save ourselves from ourselves, because we are all brothers.
Sephardim, Ashkenazim, secular, religious, Hasidic and Lithuanian.
• Part of the column is based on the talks of the Lubavitcher Rebbe | The writer is the owner of "My Choice", an event host, lecturer, and radio broadcaster. | For comments: [email protected]
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