Monday, December 08, 2008

What If They Threw A Ban and Nobody Listened?

This Hamercaz article title, "Lakewood Roshei Yeshiva Ban Women's Entertainment Event", says it all.

Note this part:
In any case, the ban seemed to have little effect. Women who attended the event report that the performers played to a packed house.

Some pointed to the last-minute nature of the ban as reason for the scant attention payed to it; phone calls prohibiting attendance at the event were made after 8:00 pm Sunday night, when most attendees had already left their homes to go to the event.
The last-minute nature of these bans constitutes an additional Chilul Hashem, over and above the ban itself. These events are planned, organized, and advertised to the community well in advance. There is simply no justification for instituting a ban at the last minute. These rabbis seem not to have learned from the recent ban fiascos. It's a crying shame!