Are Politics Podcasts the New ‘Galach in Our Home’?
"When the Rebbe spoke out against television, the Rebbe said that having a television is 'bringing the galach into your home. ' Those words ring true to me when I see bochurim identifying as MAGA or listening to these podcasts. "
By A Concerned BochurWhen we see articles about yeshivos, they are generally regarding specific topics. This one is different. This is also for those not in yeshiva, although I will write as it pertains to yeshiva bochurim. We, as frum Jews, never officially identified with any specific political party or group. In recent years, the actions and positions on the left have seemed to be immoral, as well as antithetical to many Torah ideas. Bochurim, being the young, energetic individuals that they are, tend to get swallowed into the political world, podcasts, commentaries, etc. If you’re a bochur, I’m sure you know exactly what I’m talking about. Spending hours upon hours of your time listening to podcasts, scrolling through social media, and even engaging in plain discussion. Now, here’s where I’m going with this. “Judeo-Christian values” is something often discussed, and sometimes bochurim can get a bit too dragged into this concept. In fact, a frum Jew owns a company that openly hosts similar-thinking, right-wing-minded individuals. It’s flat-out kefirah! They speak about Christianity all day, every single episode. Of course, most bochurim just roll their eyes during that part, but then listen right back in when the host returns to right-wing topics. When the Rebbe spoke out against television, the Rebbe said that having a television is “bringing the galach into your home. ”Those words ring true to me when I see bochurim (even Chassidishe ones) identifying as MAGA or listening to these podcasts, which, as I said before, regardless of the truth of the political part of the episode, delve right into Christianity and connect it directly with the above-mentioned party and movement. I even sometimes hear bochurim talking about political opinions, and I can clearly hear Christian ideas in their words (with regard to abortion and other such topics). Yes, we all hope and pray that non-Jews take a more moral approach to life, but we know where we are meant to learn our morality from: the Torah. I don’t have any solutions for this, obviously, other than just stopping this trend, but I’m wondering what others think about this topic.