Editorial: HaMavdil bein kodesh l’chol

Posted

Issue of Nov. 21, 2008 / 23 Cheshvan 5769

In all the fuss about the oversized, underdressed young woman who is dominating the skyline on Rockaway Turnpike, and conversations in Jewish neighborhoods throughout the immediate area, the only thing that everyone seems to understand clearly is that no single community, ours or any other, can assume that it has the absolute right to tell everyone else what to do. And that's something to be proud of, even as efforts continue to have that obnoxious billboard removed.

In some other predominantly Jewish neighborhoods in the New York region the matter would perhaps already have been “resolved” with the defacement or destruction of private property, which, of course, would not have amounted to a resolution at all. Obviously, the story would then have been splashed all over the secular media in a manner most unbecoming of and uncomplimentary to a Torah community.

Forgive the back patting — the matter is far from over and it is still too early for self-congratulations — but we make this observation and raise this point mainly to urge that the restraint continue.

As our report on Page 1 indicates, various options have been attempted or are still being considered, but since the billboard is not likely to be removed soon we're just going to have to deal with it.

How?

The report indicates that the construction schedule on Rockaway Turnpike recently changed to an evening pattern, as scheduled, which should reduce waiting time at the traffic light nearest the billboard. Now drivers who don't wish to have the image on the billboard seared into the backs of their eyelids just have to ... not look. Keeping your eyes on the road is a wise course of action in any event. Now there’s an extra reason to do so.

The provocative question posed on Shabbos by a local rav wonders what other forms of secular influence we take pains to avoid — both in terms of the messages we send to our children, and for our own sakes. Pious discomfort and unhappiness over a prurient billboard can healthily be channeled into introspection about other areas of our lives that we might wish to change or improve.

As Shabbos ends we say the words HaMavdil bein kodesh l'chol, thanking G-d for the gift he gives us each week. The words should also remind us that even as we exercise our choice to not live in a ghetto we must face the challenges of the secular world, such as this one, and live our lives in a manner that ennobles us and brings credit to the notion of HaMavdil ... bein Yisroel lo'amim.