Stoned!

In this week’s Parsha ??? ?? a man gets stoned to death. Here is a d’var lkovod shabbes:

A ????? – a closeted OTD guy is found harvesting weed to smoke on shabbos –

?????????? ?????-??????????, ????????????; ????????????, ????? ????????? ??????–??????? ?????????? –

he was then outed, and made to leave –

??????????? ????? ????-??????? ???-?????? ?????????? –

let him get stoned, but out of our encampment Hashem said to Moshe..

You see? We learn from this that heretics are nothing but druggies looking for excuses to go on with their addictions. Rabosei! The Torah even says that these heretics were stoned to death! And all this time, there are no teenage pregnancies among chasidim! Woops, no drugs, among chasidim!

END SHIUR-

There are some very problematic misconceptions about the “heretics” or OTD/”maskilim”. True, those who don’t believe in the Chasidic lifestyle “live” more, explore more, and are probably more prone to experiment. But that’s a far cry from self-destructing. The people I know who lose faith pour more sweat into “making it” in life than almost anyone I know who is straight and obedient in the Chasidic community. And there are so many inspiring success stories, if only they were known! These need to be shared more, so that these sweeping stereotypes can be debunked. Chasidim who are thinking about their choices in life shouldn’t be under the impression that living freely means doom.

Ironically, I had to do some research for the cartoon and steal the details of a stoner because I wasn’t quite sure how it was supposed to look. I may have left, but that doesn’t make me any less a boring and overworked single mother who skipped the college experimentation phase. Not that I am a judging prude; I’m only an involuntary prude. But it makes me reflect on how different (and less exciting) my life is than what I used to think life on the outside is like.