Up, Down, Right, Left, here, there Hashem is truly everywhere.....EXCEPT ON VACATION(right)
Well many of you may already know that I went on a cruise to the Bahamas in mid January.
Let me just say, Vacation is amazing. Being cut off from the world for 10 straight days without checking email is an incredible change of pace and such a cleansing experience.
Anywho, in this post I will discuss Frum Jews on vacation.
I'll start off with the guys side of things.
When planning a vacation that you will be spending with both jews and nonjews,
PLEASE REFRAIN FROM DRESSING LIKE A GIANT DOUCHE if you plan on wearing a kippah.(Otherwise wear whatever the hell you want, your on vacation ur never gonna see these people again for the rest of your life)
I completely respect wearing a kippah everywhere you go. But if you are going to be acting like a douchebag, do us other Jews who happen to be in the same place as you, a favor and not ruin being Jewish for the rest of us.
Example 1.
On my cruise there were many(waaaaaaaay too many) other jews on the boat. Who would have thought right, taking a cruise during the YU winter break. On the last night there is an event where they make you do crazy things in a competition, obviously most of the ppl are drunk. One of the so called "quests" was to have a guy come up with no shirt or pants on. Wearing a womans bra, with lipstick on, wearing heels and holding a purse. Low and behold one of the other Jews with a kippah(and who also had previously gotten his pretty short hair beaded on an island) gets up there doing this. Now cmon man, this does not look good for the orthodox community.
Solution:
If you go to any public place ie.. mall, casino, sporting event, movie, and you see 3 or more men wearing baseball hats I would say there is a 90% chance its cuz they are Jewish. If you plan on doing stupid ass things like these, just put on a hat so they dont associate an orthodox jew doing things like this. It will prevent the Chillul hashem and not embarrass other Jews that happen to be around and now hate that they are wearing kippot as well and slowly try to slide them off without people realizing.
Example 2 also on cruise.
Guys first mistake, wearing kanye west sunglassses with the lines going through it.
2nd mistake neon green trucker hat
3rd mistake tzitzit hanging out.
CMON MAN. What are you thinking. I would be making fun of you if you werent jewish for wearing shit like that, but now you got everyone else on this boat thinking that Jews are retarded so when I head down to dinner in the restaurant wearing my kippah, i cant help but think that ppl are looking at me being friends with this guy and me being embarrased to be Jewish.
Solution
Not sure if you have ever heard of this, butttttt, you can always tuck them in. Nothing wrong if you all want to wear them all day but why would do be doing so in an obnoxious way. If you are going to proud of the fact that you are Jewish, then dont contradict yourself with the way that you dress. People are not gonna be like wow look how awesome that guy is dressed in that amazing outfit, and you know what makes it soo much better those strings flying everywhere and smacking my legs as he walks by me on the lounge chair tanning, its a great massage feeling. NO, they are thinking wow this guy is a big tool bag, nobody not even kanye the gay fish can pull off an outfit like that let alone a little jewish white kid. And why the hell does he have strings hitting me, and is one of the strings on each side blue, thats wierd. Jews are wierd.
So what is my final stance on this?
As an orthodox Jew and someone who wore a kippah and tzitzit at different points on the trip, all I ask is for some brains to be used. If you want to wear tzitzit hanging out then please dress like a nice jewish kid, otherwise just tuck them in, there is no halacha claiming that they must be hanging out to fulfill the mitzvah. In regards to the Kippah aspect, again if you are going to be doing something that would not be a appropriate for a nice ben torah to be doing, or even something you dont want your parents seeing a video of you on facebook, please dont be wearing a kippah at those times. Put on a hat, or god forbid nothing(only in the most dire situations of course).
So if you feel so strongly about wearing these proudly, please please please jsut dont come on a trip with me so that I can enjoy myself and not be embarrased half the time. Just go on vacation to a Yeshiva or something since thats where you want to be neway dressed like that.
If you really need to go all the way to the bahamas to see some girls in bakinis, just let me know and I can give you some websites to help you out.
Peace out for now, Next post will be discussing the Frum Girls on vacation.
Shout out to Mike P for being my first follower.
AC
Thanks for pointing out the dumbass jews who don't know when to not be dumbasses. Can you also speak about the, as I call them, "that guy" at a sporting event. "That guy" is a guy wearing a random jersey, of a team not playing in the game. "That guy" is clearly so dumb they believe that if they own a jersey, than if they go to a sporting event they have to wear that jersey. Example: a guy wearing a Baltimore Orioles jersey to a New York Rangers v. Los Angeles Kings game, or of course, someone wearing an Orioles jersey to a Florida Marlins v. St Louis Cardinals. Why is that person that guy? It's because the Orioles jersey has NOTHING to do with either of the teams, geographically or sports wise! Dumbasses!
ReplyDeletei have many thoughts on this post of yours. let me start with your 2nd example first. i agree that the guy with the shades and neon green attire looked like a douche even without people knowing he was jewish. in a case like that when you are going to be a douche do it on your own time.
ReplyDeletei disagree with your first example though. i dont view it as being a chilul hashem (not to mention that according the the gemarah in ketubot a chilul hashem is an act that desicrates G-d in front of 10 other jews, so get your terms straight) but anyway, he was partaking in a drunken activity along with the rest of the drunk ppl in the bar. i see no reason for him not to wear his kippah. if anything it shows people that jews are able to be loose and have a good time to.
Well to respond to your first part JoSF,
ReplyDeleteThere were def 10 other Jews there. Besides for my group of 7, there were his freinds and the group of really frum girls. So Chilul Hashem it was, considering I def think that would be, as you referred to it as desecrating gods name. Now yes I do understand your second point, as it went through my mind, However the idea of Jews being Kadosh is to separate ourselves from other nations. So in fact we are not supposed to be just like them and just fit in. Now I know that I am contradicting my self right there, and I apologize but I find this a very difficult Catch 22 situation. I think we should try to separate ourselves by not acting like them at times, but at other times I like to just blend in.
you cant have it both ways AC. either stick to your guns or change your opinion. but i think it is better for us to wear a kippah and hang out and show non jews that we are normal and not just keep ourselves at a distant while wearing kippote and only doing what we want when we take them off. i think if non jews see us as being similar there would be less stigmas. thats just simple facts of life, when you see the "others" as "yourself" its always easier to get a long with them
ReplyDelete