Today's Judaism

Question

my friend rote this this summer in camp - i think its good -- and true.... To all the teachers, principals, educators, and caring Jewish people around me, I’m writing this with shaking hands and an overpowering surge of emotion. The words are bursting out of me, screaming, begging to be heard, so overwhelming that I don’t even know if I could possibly make sense. Because I’m witnessing so much pain, so much bitterness, so much confusion, and horrible messed-up ideas – and it’s all our fault!! The frum world looks around and takes such pride in the teshuvah movement, in the kiruv rate - and it’s all wonderful - truly, it’s fantastic – But we’re only looking at half the picture… Why are we so blind to our own childeren?!?! We’re reaching out to the whole world and ignoring the failures in our own society. Yes, failures. So many precious neshamos, so many holy Jewish cheildren, who have been completely turned off and pushed away by their own people – their “mechanchim”. Who are we fooling?!?! This is what we call chinuch?!?! These are products of our school systems???? How can anyone live with their conscience when we have not reached through to our very own “FFB-but no-longer-here”s? Young kids, innocent naïve teenagers, with so much potential and such tremendous futures, are walking around bitter, hurt, confused, carrying so much pain, more pain than their innocent bodies can handle - and there’s no one there for them. They ask, and they’re yelled at “Apikorsus! How could you?!?” They rebel – they’re only expressing their hurt and anger – and they’re pushed away. Judaism becomes a list of rules and regulations – restrictions and obligations that make no sense to them. Life is unfair … G-d is hiding ….and the Jewish people – the ones that profess to be so high and holy - are intolerant and uncaring, and cannot accept anyone outside of their narrow lifestyles. Is this what Judaism is?!??! Every part of me is screaming, exploding with the pain of these children, of these holy souls, that are getting so lost. Where’s the real Judaism?! What happened to the beauty, the elevation, the utimate eternal happiness and security of our religion??? Why is there so much - so many uplifted values on interpersonal relationships, so many thoughts on the truth of this world and our view of it - that is being denied to these children? We know that this is the one religion in which questions can be answered, in which obligations can be understood and appreciated, so why are we so afraid of answering?! We’re living in a sick world, little kids are experiencing crazy things – broken homes, violence, convoluted hashkafos, confusion, death, pain – every child, no matter how sheltered, is exposed to more things than any of you (teachers, parents, mechanchim) could ever dream. And they have questions – legitimate, reasonable questions – and they deserve to be answered. And where are you, the teachers??? Why don’t they feel like they’re being acknowledged?!? They’re in pain. They need love - and if you teach, you have to love. And if you can’t love- DON’T TEACH! Because they deserve your love, and answers. You have to know, you have to believe in yourself - and in them, and you have to love what you live – and know why you love it. Because that’s the only way to pass it on – to your own children, to other children. They’re searching - honestly, truthfully searching. And sometimes it’s expressed with negativity and rebellion. Because they’re kids and they can’t do better – they don’t know how to deal with life and with their feelings. And istead of being comforted, accepted, and taught – they’re branded and accused, “Youre bad. Your’e making a bad name for our school... If you cant do it the way we need you to – get out…because, really, we don’t care – we’re to busy being holy – we are too holy – for the likes of you...” And so, they resent, they hate, they rebel, and they leave - and they’re lost because we threw them out!!! So we fool ourselves – we look at all our wonderful graduates – the ones that life was a little kinder too, the ones who were fortunate enough to have people to hold their hands – and we say , “Wow, look how many we succeeded with… we had to do it to those – it’s a matter of protection … its just a minority – there are so few that we lost….” Are we blind?? The numbers are climbing. These children are all over the place, from all societies. And there’s more and more. And one day, when we get up there and G-d asks us “Where are my children?”, We’ll parade before him all the good fine Bais Yaakov girls, all the nice frum yeshiva boys, who came from good fine homes and had good fine lives, and we’ll feel so proud… And the Heavenly Voice will thunder again, “Where are my children??” And there will be so many souls, too many souls, missing. Because we have failed.