I was in Shar Yashuv in NY and then in the Mir and in neither place was it very easy to get to meet women. In the Mir there were no official channels for dating. On one hand it was kind of frustrating. But on the other hand it made for a kind of environment where one is motivated to get married.
To meet a girl one usually had to wait until some shiduch was offered by the girl's parents. It was nothing like what is usual in Western Society. But who can say? I generally approve of places for opposites sexes to meet. The more strict approach seems to be too heavy handed to me.
That is I think the real reason for the enlightenment. I think at some-point, people got tired of religious leaders telling them what to do. Especially when it seemed clear those leaders themselves had no idea of the difference between right and wrong. And that situation I think has remained in place.
Recently I was looking at the trial of Joan of Arc, and it seems to me to reflect very well on exactly why the Enlightenment happened. People got sick and tired of religious authorities and princes acting in ways that were heavy handed, and unjust.
Therefore the best piety is home piety. To learn at home Gemara and Musar and Rav Shach's Avi Ezri. "Institution based piety" seems to have major flaws.
To meet a girl one usually had to wait until some shiduch was offered by the girl's parents. It was nothing like what is usual in Western Society. But who can say? I generally approve of places for opposites sexes to meet. The more strict approach seems to be too heavy handed to me.
That is I think the real reason for the enlightenment. I think at some-point, people got tired of religious leaders telling them what to do. Especially when it seemed clear those leaders themselves had no idea of the difference between right and wrong. And that situation I think has remained in place.
Recently I was looking at the trial of Joan of Arc, and it seems to me to reflect very well on exactly why the Enlightenment happened. People got sick and tired of religious authorities and princes acting in ways that were heavy handed, and unjust.
Therefore the best piety is home piety. To learn at home Gemara and Musar and Rav Shach's Avi Ezri. "Institution based piety" seems to have major flaws.
