Jews are awfully fond of asking the question "Is it good for the Jews?" and bickering endlessly about the ensuing hypotheticals. It's our favorite sport, and we do it with Olympian finesse and fervency.
But some Jews skip that part and go right on to the answer, which is often a resounding "no."
There are two fairly recent cases where Hasidic men, one actor and one singer, have been forced to walk away from critical opportunities in their careers because of communal pressure. One is an actor, Abe Karpen, who was slated to play alongside Natalie Portman in the upcoming film "New York I Love You," and backed out after his children's education was threatened. The other is a singer, Lipa Schmeltzer (yes, really). He was scheduled to hold a concert singing his Jewish tunes at Madison Square Garden- with separate seating for men and women, no less- and had to cancel.
What? What is going on here?
Jews have always struggled between the desire for community cohesiveness, which can morph oh so quickly into isolationism, and the desire to be part of society at large, which wields the danger of- dare I say it?- assimilation. I get that. It still bothers me, though. Why must we withold G-d-given talent from the world for the sake of a hypothetical?
But some Jews skip that part and go right on to the answer, which is often a resounding "no."
There are two fairly recent cases where Hasidic men, one actor and one singer, have been forced to walk away from critical opportunities in their careers because of communal pressure. One is an actor, Abe Karpen, who was slated to play alongside Natalie Portman in the upcoming film "New York I Love You," and backed out after his children's education was threatened. The other is a singer, Lipa Schmeltzer (yes, really). He was scheduled to hold a concert singing his Jewish tunes at Madison Square Garden- with separate seating for men and women, no less- and had to cancel.
What? What is going on here?
Jews have always struggled between the desire for community cohesiveness, which can morph oh so quickly into isolationism, and the desire to be part of society at large, which wields the danger of- dare I say it?- assimilation. I get that. It still bothers me, though. Why must we withold G-d-given talent from the world for the sake of a hypothetical?
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