The Jewish Bystander Phenomenon

How often have you seen the following situation:

It's time for Minha/Maariv shel hol. There's more than a minyan present. All that's needed is a chazan. After a few minutes of complete silence, a few "nu"s penetrate the fog, daring someone (else) to get up and be the Shatz. Soon a particularly brave soul gets up and starts asking people if they want to be chazan. Most will decline the honor, until someone eventually gives in.

Or how's about the following:

Three guys have just finished dining together. A mezuman is needed. Now a game of "pass the buck" begins. Each member of the trio will say "bechavod" to his neighbor, running round and round till someone caves and is mezamen. (The cohanim have already happily gievn up their first dibs to play the "bechavod" game).

Maybe I missed something - isn't being a mezamen or a shatz an honor? When did it become a burden to borne only when absolutely necessary? Perhaps someone can explain this to me?

Well, I'm no farmer...

I was going to write a post about how it's impossible for an active grad student to find any sort of work, but this comic demonstrates this better than I ever could (no, I'm not married).

When in Israel, Speak in Hebrew

The latest YU Commentator has a very illuminating set of articles (see Hirhurim link, requires free subscription) on the tensions between Torah study and academia. As I've mentioned before, there is nothing similiar for those of us that learn in Israel. Zilch. Gornisht. We have nowhere to turn for any kind of advice, or even informed debate and opinion, regarding academia and religion.

Note to Richard Joel: You want to make inroads here? Start by translating the Commentator into Hebrew (I also think that the Orthodox Forum needs to do the same with their books), or better yet - by establishing a journal that would include both Israeli and American students' perspectives on the conflict between religion and the university. The mutual translation of views from English to Hebrew and vice versa can make a real difference and lead to genuine cultural interaction. Otherwise, the YU presence here will amount to little more than just another American Jewish bubble in Israel, one of many.