Thursday, June 04, 2015

The Driving "Ban"

Leaving aside the question of whether there is misogyny involved in the Belz driving ban or not, I fully agree with the following statement from http://thejc.co.uk/news/uk-news/137282/sect-backs-away-school-ban:

Neshei Belz, a women's organisation, also issued a statement last week, saying that that driving a vehicle was "a high-pressured activity where our values may be compromised by exposure to selfishness, road rage, bad language and other inappropriate behaviour".

It is my belief that it is driving and the negative middos that it entails that are one of the primary causes of the relative paucity of tzaddikim in the literal (mussar) sense since driving became prevalent.

13 comments:

  1. For whom the Belz tollFriday, June 05, 2015 7:32:00 AM

    "a high-pressured activity where our values may be compromised by exposure to selfishness, road rage, bad language and other inappropriate behaviour".

    In that case, the men shouldn't drive either.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Well Hellz Belz, leaving aside the question of whether there is misogyny involved in the Belz driving ban or not is leaving aside the question of whether there is racism involved in the Rosa Parks story. Neshei Belz' statement is like a Black advocacy group saying "Yeah, we think separate drinking fountains based on race are a great idea!"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're missing the point of the post. It's not about Belz. It's about driving and middos.

      Delete
  3. The ability to rise heroically above these middos is what breeds tzaddikim. .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The saying "easier said than done" was never more apropos!

      Delete
  4. Just because you live in New York doesn't mean everybody else displays poor middos when they drive a car. Move out of town.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Easier said than done is the hallmark of heroism, it's sine qua non.

    ReplyDelete
  6. You people are kind of missing the point. If one was utterly polite, one could never get during rush hour from the toll booths onto the GWB. Even out of town, you cannot allow another person to precede you at a four way stop sign. You will be cut off and likely get annoyed. You won't find parking and get annoyed. You will be frustrated by a slow driver. You will drive over the speed limit (ever seen anybody actually going 50 mph on the Palisades?). You will speed up on yellow. You will either pick up or not pick up hitchikers (either way you are in an unclear zone). You will not let a pedestrian cross, or you will and the cars behind you will be annoyed. Etc. Etc.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. True. I just gave a ride to two Israeli meshulachim, and I was forced to realize that I was an aggressive and impatient driver when the guy in the front seat cringed and suggested that maybe I should relax.

      Delete
  7. Life is a highway, so said a pop song many moons ago. Should women be banned from using the telephone because being put on hold and dealing with inept operators may lead to anger? While I agree with you, i feel you are missing the point yourself - if this were about middos the ban would apply to Jews across the board. It doesn't. This is all about power and marginalization.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree with you that the Belz thing is not likely related to middos. Nevertheless, in my ideal world, since what the Nshei Belz assert is true, no one would drive!

      Delete
    2. BTW, a segulah to avoid ever having to drive while your spouse is in the car, is to get into a minor fender bender on your second date (even if it is not your fault!). Baduk u'menuseh! :-)

      Delete