Who would have thought, that ‘getting real’ is even starting to infiltrate govt propaganda sites like the YWN?!

But yes, it’s true: one article went up a few days ago that is actually ‘real’, and discussing real things, and stating some things that most people in the US ‘frum’ community know, in their heart of hearts, but no-one likes to admit.

Here it is:

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Here a snippet from the main article:

We built a culture obsessed with appearances. We engineered a lifestyle defined by competition, visual perfection, and social pressure. We created a world where simchas are not celebrations, but staged productions—where “mazel tov” quietly translates into debt, anxiety, and humiliation behind closed doors. The flowers wilt in the hall, but the bills stay for years.

In too many homes, a chasuna or bar mitzvah marks the start of financial suffocation. Parents take on loans they cannot repay. Mothers watch the bills pile up as collectors circle. Fathers internalize the stress and feel personally responsible for the disaster. No one sees it, because the pictures were gorgeous. The videos were dazzling. The guests were impressed. Meanwhile, sholom bayis erodes under the weight of a lifestyle that nobody can afford and everybody is expected to maintain.

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And here’s a couple of comments, that caught my eye:

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If parrotting ‘Baruch Hashem’ like a robot is the most ‘real thing’ frum parents are giving over to their kids… the problem is even worse than I thought.

BTW – look who owns the domain Baruch-Hashem.com:

We proclaim Yeshua (Jesus) as Messiah and Lord—sharing the Gospel with Israel, serving the Church, and welcoming all to worship with us.

Help Support This Ministry and Grow the Kingdom: If you feel led to please visit: Baruch-Hashem.com/Give

No wonder I got the heebie-jeebies about this horrible misuse of ‘Baruch Hashem’.

And as usual, the Notzrim are on exactly the same page as our own Erev Rav ‘leaders’, spiritually.

Of course.

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But, the good news is that even in YWN world, some people are starting to ‘get real’.

And are starting to point out that the real work of being a Jew is internal, and boils down to overcoming bad middot.

Maybe, Rebbe Nachman wasn’t kidding after all, when he said that in the end, everyone will be Breslov.

Because Breslov is really the only ‘system’ out there that works, practically, to get over the bad middot.

And not just to turn into a religious hypocrite preaching about the faults and sins of everyone else, whilst the skeletons in your own closet multiply like mushrooms after rain.

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I still don’t have internet at home – but I’m honestly starting to wonder if I need it.

What am I missing out on, really, except the convenience of being able to check my bank statements online?

We’ll see.

Otherwise, I have been so, so busy with kids and grandkids and papers and Rav books the last few weeks, I haven’t had a minute to myself.

BH, Conversations III is going to be available on Amazon any day now – I will tell you when you can get it.

BH, I sent the last draft of my paper off this AM.

BH, all the people who were feeling ill are now starting to feel better again, and it looks like I might even be able to go out for a walk again soon.

Baruch Hashem!

But otherwise, it’s been an exhausting few weeks, the epitome of kotzer ruach, where there is not a moment to really breathe, let alone think.

Who knows, what’s really going on.

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Let’s end with one more comment from YWN:

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Ah, Ahava (love of God) and Yira’ah (fear of God).

Rabbenu teaches you need both.

And don’t get me started on the ‘arrogance created by Pilpul’, as our Torah community has been fighting that particular battle for quite a few centuries already…

Corrupt rabbis are sadly not a new phenomenon, anything but – and it’s no accident that Rabbenu devoted a couple of lessons in Likutey Moharan to talking about Jewish-Demon-Torah-Scholars.

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But let’s end on an up note.

I am detecting signs that the evil is very nearly out of tricks.

That the ‘puppets’ are very nearly out of wiggle room.

And that the yetzer is very nearly out of disguises.

More and more people are ‘getting real’ – and that inevitably leads to soul-searching and real teshuva.

It’s a matter of when, not if.

I can’t wait.