אבי נישט פון אונזערע

(Valach getting a Kos Shel Eliyohu)

It hurts to say this; but we in Yiddishkeit have become all about groups, and we look out for our own. Just barely at that. Every time I see an article about frum dropouts I cringe when I read about the Lubavitcher kids in the group, and pray that there are none. I understand it's selfish of me, but never did I say I was without faults. Judaism isn't judged as a whole anymore, but as small to large groups accomplishing for themselves, and producing according to their guidelines. We could care less about the Jewish community as a whole, and we aren't affected by stories that happen in other communities. Sad but true. This came to mind when I read in HydePark and on mentalblog.com about this Chozer BiShe'elah - Dovid Valach - who won the Sundance Film Festival award for best something or other film.

Valach comes from a prestigious Yerushalmi family - one of anywhere from 17 to 22 kids - who freid out at 25 and became a filmmaker. He was supposedly a Metzuyon at Ponovezh (probably not) who realized that this was not the life for him. So he went on to making films about frum Jews, and that always works in Israel. The novelty here is that so warmly accepted by the non-Jewish community as well. It tells the story of a father and son who doon't get along very well, since the father's approach to raising him is seen as excessive by the son. The situation only gets worse when the family travels to the dead sea for summer vacation, and tragedy befalls them when their son, the same son drowns. They then need to deal with their faith and the questions that now have, as well as with their grief.

So what comes to mind is abi er iz nisht fun unzere, at least he's somebody else's problem. At least he's the result of a different system, and of a group we don't emulate. Let them be busy with him. At least he's not the result of our own shortcomings, and at least we don't need to reflect some more on the inadequacies of our educational system and act upon them. We get to breath easy until the next scandal or story breaks. We'll cross that bridge when we get there. It's like this every time there's an accident or a terrorist attack, or a monetary scandal in the news: !א היימישע? ניין? ברוך השם I feel like this approach in life makes me more like the community that you all want me to return to, the Klal Yisroel. I hope you appreciate this sentiment......