Friday, August 03, 2007

on bans and beliefs - some questions on your reaction

Is there anyone out there who can say in all honesty that they will no longer attend a Jewish music concert because of the ban placed by gedolei yisrael? If such a person exists, I have a follow-up question: m'ikara mai ka'savar ul'b'sof mai ka'savar - what positive (or neutral) value did you attach to the concerts which originally made you attend, and how has the ban changed your view of the same experience? My chakira is: did you previously find the concert experience a mix of good/bad and felt the good outweighed the bad, but now the gedolim have changed your mind; did you previously think the experience was positive and now see all the negatives; do you still feel the Jewish concert experience is positive but are simply mevateil your da'as to that of gedolim?

For those who identify as chareidi and still will attend concerts, question: is this because you asked a shayla to your chareidi rav who openly took a position that the advice of these gedolim could be ignored, or you on your own made a decision to ignore their advice? If the latter is true, do you think ignoring the advice of gedolim based on your own assessment is consistant with the chareidi vision of da'as torah?

(Note: just to clarify in response to comments - by "chareidi" I simply mean those of you who otherwise believe the advice of gedolim in all areas should be unquestioningly followed.)