The grand shtibel

I was recently in Los Angeles for a family simcha.  We went to a number of different Shuls while we were there.  Boruch Hashem there was many to choose from – about two on each block.  One of our stops was at the ‘regular’ Chabad Shul, where most of the Lubavitchers daven.  I say ‘regular’ because although there were other Chabad shuls, they were Chabad Houses – for people that are new to Chassidus or Yiddishkeit – not stam a Shul. 
 

Everything seemed fine, the coffee was great and the Kiddush was very lavish.  I felt very welcome.  As I was enjoying one of the speeches, someone said to me: “you know it’s such a shame that this Shul is like a lcoh in vant (a whole in the wall) – implying that it wasn’t too fancy.  It was a bit too heimish.  I had to agree with him, it was far cry from some of the grander Shulin you often see. 

Yet after a little thought, it occurred to me that this might not be so bad after all.  In the state of California alone there are over 140 Chabad houses!  Our money is being poured into providing a place of worship for Micheal and Mickey.  Our ‘grand’ place of worship in California stretches over the whole state.  I’m sure Hashem is very satisfied with our little shtibel! 

It's not so simple

There have been a number of articles (Op-eds) on various Chabad news websites, complaining about our educational system.  Some demanded a more relaxed schedule, while others suggested lowering the bar.  While I think it’s a great thing to bring up these ideas, to spur talk about these important issues, I would suggest that a slightly different tone be used.

One bochur wrote: “…If we can cultivate these qualities in the bochurim in both mesivta and zal, it should effectively eliminate the issues at hand…”  I will not go into the nitty gritties of his ideas, but I think that his statement that “these ideas” will save the day, at best denotes naivety.  The issues are extremely complex.  If someone comes along and says, “Here is the answer,” he is the last person I would want to listen to.  A wise person once said: “the reason there is no ‘shulchan aruch’ on chinuch is because there are no clear cut rules”. 

Moreover, it’s very easy to judge mechanchim, but do we ever place ourselves in their shoes?   If a principal calls a meeting to discuss a problem with the parents, often the principal is attacked: “How dare you say this about my child!”  Is it possible that this person who has 10-20 years of experience knows better than us? 

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