Community Magazine September 2011

spiritually in a society characterized by unbridled indulgence and unrestrained permissiveness. But in addition, we must deal with the unprecedented ease with which we are exposed to it. Many people cavalierly accept this reality without concern, thinking, “I’m not doing it, I’m just seeing it.” This is a terrible and dangerous mistake. They are correct that “seeing” is not the same as “doing,” but they are very wrong in thinking that “seeing” is without consequences. They fail to realize that exposure to improper conduct profoundly affects our minds and our souls. Like a cancerous cell, it can spread subtly and end up causing immense spiritual damage. The mass media today bombards us with the three most grievous sins – idolatry, immorality and murder. The faith and beliefs expressed in television shows and movies are certainly not ours, murder and other violent crimes are standard fare in the entertainment industry, and promiscuity is not only accepted in today’s media culture, but championed and celebrated. True, we can perhaps assume that exposure to this will not turn most religious Jews into Buddhists, murderers or adulterers – and this is the excuse often given by those who allow this material into their homes and onto their handheld devices. But they make the mistake of assuming that it has no impact, that they can remain committed Torah Jews despite regular exposure to sinful behavior. They fail to realize that this exposure lowers their standards and their expectations of themselves, as it moves them further away from religious devotion and closer to the contamination that they are viewing. Esav’s Marriage Another cause for laxity in this regard is the assumption that living in a religious home and religious community suffices to counteract the potentially harmful effects of these images. A man who is married to a sincerely religious woman, sends his children to yeshivot , attends synagogue regularly and participates in community functions may likely think that this religious lifestyle “drowns out” the negative spiritual influences of the programs he views. Proof to the contrary may be drawn from the Torah’s brief account of Esav’s marriage to two pagan women (Beresheet 26:34). This marriage, the Torah informs us, caused great distress to Esav’s parents, Yizhak and Rivka. Seeing a child marry out of the faith is among the most feared calamities for observant Jewish parents. All the more so if these parents are towering sadikim like Yizhak and Rivka. However, the sages tell us that Esav’s marriage caused more anguish to Yizhak than to Rivka, because Rivka was exposed to paganism as a child, as opposed to Yizhak, who was raised in the home of Avraham and Sara, two of the most righteous people who ever live. Rivka was raised among idolaters, and so she was therefore desensitized – if only infinitesimally – to the gravity of idol worship. Hence, Esav’s marriage was slightly less disturbing to her than it was to Yizhak. Yizhak and Rivka were married for 60 years before Esav’s marriage. For six decades, Rivka – herself a righteous woman – Dedicated inmemory of Mr. FrankBeda    16 Community magazine