Lashon Hara in the Burbs

There are so many jokes about the way rumors spread in suburban communities that it’s almost cliché. People have no excitement in their lives while they go about winning bread and changing diapers, that they take disproportionate interest in the goings on of other people’s lives.

This past Friday night, on a whim, I attended a minyan which was one of the new ‘Egal Orthodox’ style minyanim. I attended on a whim, figuring that since it’s Carlebach style, there’s not much difference between this and a standard davening. The only real difference is who is standing up front during Kabbalat Shabbat.

It was a small minyan, yet somehow, by this evening, someone approached my wife out of the blue to talk about what a ‘big supporter’ of the egal Orthodox shul I am (Note: I’ve never been to the shul. Even if I wanted to, it’s a 45 minute walk. I attended a minyan a few blocks away, once), and that I go there all the time. Then this person said that I should tell people that I’m not a supporter of this minyan so that people don’t get the ‘wrong idea’. My wife asked how I should tell people, on the community email list?

I mean, WTF? I’m not a Rabbi here. I’m not a community employee. What’s this anyone’s business?