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Rabbi YY Jacobson - We Don't Know Who Is Frum

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Community upload. AI output has not been independently verified.
Author: Rabbi YY Jacobson
Categories: Religion Health
Tags: religion, health
Views: 2 · Last viewed: 2026-10-16 08:50 UTC

Short Summary

Main recommendation: Do not judge who is frum (religiously observant) by outward appearances; look instead to the inner essence of a person. The video illustrates this through the story of Ida Bloomberg, a woman whose external observance lapsed but whose Jewish heart and generosity earned a blessing from the Lubavitcher Rebbe.

Key Points

  • Ida Bloomberg, from a Hasidic background, refused to work on Shabbos, lost several factory jobs, and eventually surrendered out of economic necessity.
  • She rose through her work by being resourceful, smart, creative, and ambitious, then went out on her own and built a successful business employing others.
  • Feeling hypocritical, she stopped keeping Shabbos and many commandments, though her ideals and heart remained.
  • In the early 1940s, as the war was ending and Shanghai refugees were returning, she wrote to the Rebbe Rayatz offering to fund a building for the Lubavitch yeshiva in Montreal, which became a major foundation for the local Jewish community.
  • When she met the Rebbe, he blessed her repeatedly; she objected out of guilt, and he responded with a warning against using mitzvot to feel superior to others.

Details Worth Noting

  • Concrete instructions: The video gives no step-by-step practical instructions. The actionable takeaway is interpretive: when judging others (a child, a teenager, a person who seems less observant), look past externalities such as visible observance and tune into their inner essence.
  • The story is presented as shared by the speaker's sister-in-law, and the events are recounted in the video rather than verified independently.
  • The Rebbe's message is that everyone should put on tefillin and keep Shabbos, but observance should not make a person arrogant, deceptive in self-presentation, or dismissive of others.
  • The video contrasts outward religious display with inner commitment, presenting Ida's generosity and heart as evidence of a real connection despite her lapsed practice.
  • The speaker sets the story in the early 1940s, after the war, when refugees from Shanghai were returning to Israel, Canada, and the United States.

Bottom Line

Spiritual worth is measured by inner character and heart, not by visible observance, so avoid judging others by their outward religious behavior.