Three Pillars

The end of פרשת שלח has the story of the מקושש עצים, the one who gathered straw, and desecrated Shabbat. He was probably צלפחד, the father of only daughters, who later asked for a share of Eretz Yisrael.

It is known that three pillars of Judaism are Shabbat, Kashrut, and Family Purity. These three areas become the foundation of every Jewish home. When any of the three are compromised, there is a serious breach in the level of spirituality of that particular home.

In modern times, there are two additional symbols that reflect one’s commitment to Judaism. I believe they are ציצית and the Kippa. I have seen a painful pattern over the last several decades. When a young man comes from a Torah observant home, where Kippa and ציצית were a given, and he decides that these important symbols are no longer precious to him, it has a definite effect on the three pillars previously mentioned.

With the self imposed leniency on Kippa and ציצית, come leniencies on the level of exactness in Shabbat, Kashrut, and Family Purity. This is a troubling reality of what I have seen happening over and over again.

We can rationalize that Kippa is only a Minhag, custom, and we can justify not having to wear Tzitzit all day. But when such thinking turns to discarding these Jewish symbols, a very heavy price is paid. And that price is a watering down of these three precious pillars of Judaism.