Lion of Zion recently asked whether Idan Yaniv wears Tzitzit - and if you look at this image from 2:32 of the video "את יפה", it certainly looks like he has Tzitzit sticking out the back of his shirt, even though he doesn't seem to be wearing a kipa, and this love song isn't exactly from Sefer Tehilim.
Firstly, I don't know Idan Yaniv, I have know idea what mitzvot he is careful with, and what mitzvot he is still working on, however the concept of someone wearing Tzitzit and not a kipa, especially with a Sfardi background does not surprise me at all. (And I would bet that even if there is not a kipa on his head, there is one in his pocket).
I think that one of the tragedies of the Ashkenzai world is that we seem to have divided ourselves into "Dati'im" and "Chilonom". I think that the division is false and causes a lot of unnecessary division in our people. There is (almost) no such thing as a Chiloni Jew – all Jews are Holy (opposite of Chiloni), there are some Jews who put more emphasis on some mitzvot than others, but (almost) all Jews are careful with some Mitzvot (think Matza on Pessach, Brit Mila, Mezuza, Chanuka Candles, etc).
This is even more true in the Sfardi world where almost all Jews are comfortable in a Beit Knesset or around a Shabbat table. I remember a number of years ago we attended a Chena of a friend of ours who was marrying an Israeli Syrian Jew. There were about 200 people there, all family (except for us), but very few had kipot on; many had piercings, tattoos, or spiky hair. At one point we asked the father of the Chatan if there were a few people who would be able to help us form a minyan for Ma’ariv. The Chatan’s father asked “why only a few people” – he gave the table a “clap”, called “ערבית” and almost every single male present came over to where we were making a minyan. All felt comfortable davening, many had kipot in their pockets, and almost all of them knew Ma’ariv by heart.
I don’t think that this is the reaction that you would get if you call “Ma’ariv” at an Ashkenazi “non-religious” event. We Ashkenazim have a lot to learn from the Sfardi community.
Pay extra attention as we read parshat Korach in shul tomorrow (or next week for those who find themselves in Chutrz L’artetz), I don’t think that Divisions within our small nation is something that we can afford.
שבת שלום
4 comments:
"And I would bet that even if there is not a kipa on his head, there is one in his pocket"
see this video
"I remember a number of years ago we attended a Chena of a friend of ours who was marrying an Israeli Syrian Jew . . ."
i think you've posted this story before? my impression is that this type of traditional sefardi of the sort you describe is characteristic of the older generation but much less so of the younger generation.
It's true that it is more common in an older generation of Sfardim, but still exists in the younder generations.
My oldest who is in Grade 6 has a number of Sfardi kids in his class who come from homes that are not Shomer Shabbat, but it is important to the parents that their kids get a religious eductaion.
I don't think that there are any non-religious Ashkenazi kids in the Mamlachti dati school.
How are the mamlachti data schools in Modiin?
Mark
Mark,
Difficult to answer the question in a small comment. We have kids in 2 different MaMaD schools (Netiv Zvulin and Shivtei Yisrael), and overall we are very happy.
As with any school, there are areas that we think could be improved, but these are only minor issues.
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