A Rebuttal from a Blogger
by: Schvach Yid


Rickismom has taken exception to an article (and I assume at least one blog posting) about a recent trip undertaken by a group of Amish to the Lubavitchers at 770, in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. You can read it at:
http://beneaththewings.blogspot.com/2009/04/amish-and-orthodox-2-worlds.html

‘Both groups tend to be either looked down upon, or treated as a joke, without the outside viewer taking the time to look beyond their preconceived assumptions.And, as a final note, I add that this last statement is also true as regards the world of the intellectually challenged, and the disabled.’

Ouch!!!!! And I thought humor was a sign of high intelligence. I think I’d better clean up my act. Do you think any Amish have read it; after all, it is online?

The matter of where to ‘draw the line’ evidently applies to both religious groups (as well as to me). The practical applications of Halacha range far and wide. There exists a considerable fund of rabbinical rulings on, for example, Muktzah – those items and activities forbidden on Shabbos. At what point has one succeeded in ridding one’s home, and especially kitchen, of chametz? I don’t cover my kitchen sink with aluminum foil, nor do I wrap my kitchen’s walls with plastic. Have I violated the laws of Pesach by these omissions? My line is drawn in fairly shallow waters.

The Amish, I assume, stay away from computers, and so I assume not even one of the Amish has read the Ynetnews.com article, nor my blog, nor that of Rickismom. Chabad is computer-intensive, but I doubt that many Lubavitchers will have an interest in my blogs.

So my humored curiosity continues. Do the Amish have a concept similar to Muktzah?
If they don’t use phones, or computers, then how do they know about Chabad Lubavitch, and how did they find the location of Lubavitch World Headquarters in Brooklyn? How did they travel there, etc.?

I don’t think a person has to be ‘intellectually challenged’ to scratch his noggin.

Oh yeah, Chag Pesach Sameach.