With all due respect
In my area, there has been a lot of interest recently in coming to a meaningful and serious Daf Yomi class.
There have been several groups studying this for years and I know them, but now they are trying to do something bigger.
My hesitation and probably that of other neighbors is that we know these groups and with all due respect and delicacy, we know that the participants in the classes are not distinguished by better behavior. They are really not a symbol of honesty, consideration, humanity, or even any wisdom of life or moderation or anything in the area, not even educators, just people.
And I won’t elaborate on the fact that some of them are rude, extremists on all sorts of issues, completely ignorant, don’t volunteer for good activities, and aren’t an example of something that can be pointed to as a role model for us, and certainly not for our daughters and sons.
Is there anything we can add and strengthen if we participate in classes with them?
You are a rabbi and you must see things differently, we would love to hear.
(There is also a fear of loss at the end, that people with noble values, modest, decent, and learned volunteers, if they participate in their classes in some process, will become more similar to the behavior of the class participants, and perhaps, especially, that our daughters and sons will be like that)
Without knowing the situation, the description seems exaggerated and very general to me. Beyond that, when you participate in a class, there is no reason for you to be influenced in your performance by the other participants. You are studying Torah there, not marrying them. It is always worth listening to a useful class, regardless of the participants (unless they are interfering with your learning). In any case, if you want to study in a different setting – I don’t see a problem with that. But canceling Torah because of that is certainly not worth it.
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