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Thursday, April 30, 2009

Oh Stern Girls!

My sister sent me an IM with the following story.
Sister: Can i just tell you what happened in class today? The Professor asked "why does the Ramchal call olam haba a chupa?" and a girl goes "because isn't chupa the ultimate achievement"
Me: That girl is both stupid and wrong

Let's all take a moment to appreciate the stupid people. Would life be worth living if we couldn't make fun of them?

10 comments:

  1. what is this girls name and number?

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  2. In my day, it was common practice to say that one was going to Stern to get their MRS.

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  3. i am a stern student, and i hear a lot of these types of comments, and most of the time, they are definitely in jest. also, right after i got married, a lot of my friends said stuff like "well, i guess you can graduate now, you've accomplished the big graduation requirement", but again, i assure you this is all in jest. now, it's entirely possible that this girl was totally serious, and i'm sure your sister is perceptive enough to tell the difference, but before we laugh at stern girls, be aware that we joke about getting married all the time. plus, i have some much better stories of encounters with stupid students, which i would be happy to share with you if you're interested.

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  4. OK, I guess I am dumb. But was SO stupid about what she said?

    That getting married is the ultimate achievment?

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  5. That getting married is the ultimate achievement?[space]

    It is definitely an achievement, but not ultimate by far. Now a 65'th anniversary might be the ultimate achievement :-)

    In my day, it was common practice to say that one was going to Stern to get their MRS.[space]

    I still hear that a lot.


    http://mysite.verizon.net/vze1zvdp/chaiodom/parshos.html

    The Maharsha explains that the Torah was a document of Kiddushin, betrothel and mishkon was the chupa.

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  6. You know what they say: "be careful not to insult stupid people. They might go away and then who would we make fun of?"

    I pity the girls husband. She'll get married and think that she's finished acheiving in her life...what an awful wife she'll be in that case.

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  7. Such a statement made seriously does indeed sound stupid. But the girlmay have been hearing since she was in kindergarden that she will grow up to be a kallah and so think that is the ultimate goal. I remember hearing such a reference at one of my girls' siddur or tehillim play. Yes, a more intelligent person would evaluate and analyze such observations, but they are not really encouraged to be analytical as much as they are encouraged to look forward to becoming kallahs. I also think that the fairy tale ideals have been absorbed into frum culture to fuse the ideal ending of the prince and the princess got married with what females are told as their tachlis in life -- to be wives and mothers.

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  8. thank you. u just made my day

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  9. WADR I wouldn't be so quick to judge others' priorities. For example, R' Moshe Soloveitchik was once quoted as saying something along the lines of : if all i accomplished was being the link in the mesora chain between R' Chaim and R' YBS , dayenu.
    KT
    Joel Rich

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  10. I happened to be sitting in that class when the comment in question was made; it was unclear at the time whether the student meant what she said or was making a joke.

    Rather than making fun of Stern "girls" in general due to one student's comment, can we stop please stop stereotyping?

    Furthermore, I can't think of a possible heter for publicizing that comment. I strongly suspect that it's lashon hara to share it with others with the intent of making fun of a large group of people. Even if the author of the post self-identifies as a Stern student, she has no license to spread lashon hara about her fellow students.

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