Readers’ Scoop: Would BMG Consider Lifting The BlueClaws Ban?

blue claws stadiumDear TLS readers,
After reading several articles about drugs, depression, abuse and other teen issues involving our precious young children, and then reading about the BlueClaws, I had an idea and a question. If guidelines were put into place to ensure a Kosher experience at the Blue Claws Stadium, would BMG consider lifting the ban? I will explain. If we were to set aside a few hundred separate seats at the Stadium and have separate mens and womens nights within that section, why should that be an issue?

I do not in any way want to Chas Veshalom criticize the Yeshivah or our leaders for creating the ban, however, now that times have changed and boys and girls are not the way they were years ago, I would like to entertain the thought of perhaps giving our children an outlet which can be done in a Kosher way.

Now, of course this is not for the typical Yeshivish family who will not take their children to Great Adventures or to other amusement parks during the summer months. However, as a parent originally from out of town and as a mother of a teenage son who cannot sit months at a shot in his Yeshivah without a break, what would be so wrong for my husband to enjoy a night out with him?

Again, I’m just thinking aloud without Ch’V criticizing our Daas Torah. Am I the only one to entertain this thought?

I think many parents of teenage or younger children would agree that our children cannot be ‘locked up in a home’ so to speak, without having some sort of enjoyment other than a basketball game at Yeshivah.

Perhaps if there were Kosher events and outlets which our sons and daughters can enjoy, it may just alleviate some of the pressure and perhaps, the drug abuse rate in our communities would drop as well.

Thank you for allowing me to express myself.

M.E.
Lakewood, NJ.

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59 COMMENTS

  1. Wow way to think……why not its 2010, think of the positive influence this would create. Also jobs to help with these events, food, vendors etc. Come on guys wake up and smell the flafael, what a great idea for all of Lakewood to enjoy our jewel…………..

  2. now that they permitted the medical marijuana , we’re getting all kind of wack jobs writing in , what u been smokin? No way will they lift the ban!! torah is the solution to all problems PERIOD

  3. Is this what it all comes down to? One guy exposes massive corruption and we get some guy asking if we can join in? Perfect timing. I like his initials too M.E. ME too.

  4. perhaps you should entertain the point that if you allow him to go to a ball game it’s just the beginning to the end meaning this is the first step soon he will be bored with a minor league ball game he will want to go watch the majors then he will be bored of that and want to go watch a kosher movie how bad can that be then its on to a not so kosher and then a nonkosher and then no more yeshivah you get my gist the ban is a good thing there is no room in the chinuch of your children for even a little kefirah and chukas hagoyim
    now I’m not saying not to give your child a break after all they are only children and they were not created to sit and learn all day but do you have to go to a ball game for your husband and son to have a good night out what happened to good old fun a nice father son ball game a hike a bbq in the park a slice of pizza and a long ride in the car to nowhere on a nice day just your husband and son together shooting the breeze and having a good time
    you may want to try it someday it works wonders your son will feel a lot closer to his father then sitting next to him on a hard bleachers yelling for some goy he doesn’t even know and when a father and son feel a close bond the son will trust his father and be able to consult him on any life issues that may be thrust his way
    Lots of luck and give it a try

  5. Why in tartnation would anyone suggest separate seating at a sports arena? What is wrong for families getting together to watch a baseball game? Or even chas vesholom single boys or girls going with their friends to a game and not segregating them????? Come on get real wake up and smell the coffee you can segregate and separate all you want it just makes the problem worse!!!!!!!!! How about teaching our sons and daughters how to respect the opposite gender and even more importantly how to respect themselves instead of always running to segregate them into groups which they may ultimately break out of and be stuck without the tools to be able to behave properly!!! Anyone who walks around lakewood with ” open eyes” knows what I’m talking about!!!!!!!

  6. The issue is not bmg. Even if they allow it the schools won’t. And any school that would allow it would do so regardless of bmgs position on the matter. My suggestion to you and I’m sure bmg agrees is use your judgement if your child needs it and it would keep him or her out of worse activity then use your saychel and let them go. And if its not the right thing for your child then even if bmg makes a takanah that you must go you should not allow your child to go. Chanoch lenaar al pi darko. Use your brains not someone elses.

  7. the writer says that ofcourse this is not for the “yeshivish” parent who wouldnt send his kids to great adventure……..well, maybe thats why his kids are going off the d. know what i mean,?????

  8. These posts are getting worse by the day.
    Just teach your child to learn, the more he will learn the more he will enjoy learning.
    This is just the advice of the yetzer, today do this tomorrow etc.
    #6 is right on the right derech.I would even go further is to take your son to a Rav to find out why he doesn’t have a cheshek to learn the whole day. We have very chashuva Rabonim that can help out the Torah way. Giving into the Yetzer is not the way.

  9. There are plenty of kids who don’t need it so to drop the ban may not be so wise. For those that have decided that their child needs it, there are other stadiums that can fill that need. We don’t have to get rid of all the traffic lights just because emergency vehicles have to go through red lights sometimes.

  10. BMG can’t ‘lift the ban’ because that is making a statement that it’s not wrong to go there, while in truth it can lead to many negative situations (i.e. boys and girls hanging out).
    If you feel that it will be helpful for your son to go to a ballgame, why don’t you just go with him to a major league game in NY on your own, and no one needs to know!
    what would you do have done if there wouldn’t be a stadium in Lakewood?

  11. Wow! I never saw a picture of a real stadium before. It looks so geshmak! Now I have a real tayva to go to a blueclaws game. Where can I get an ishur?

  12. Wow! I never saw a picture of a real stadium before. It looks so geshmak! Now I have a real tayva to go to a blueclaws game. Where can I get a heter?

  13. Great idea, me and my kids go all the time to Yankee, nets and devils game. And I went to a few blue claws games befor and they are 100% kosher. All it is, is people that want to have a nice night out.

  14. its mamish geshmak now tink aboutt it u can drink beer by de stadiam if ur 13 mayb they can make game on purim it will mamish b geshmak! &*@*#( maskim

  15. I’ve been to about 50 blueclaws games and the atmosphere there is about 10-100 times better than 2nd street and way better than the “jII crowd”. There is no cursing because parents will scream at you. The amount of “prietzus” are nothing different than your typical day at wal-mart it is much better then a lot of the things do around here.

  16. What?? separate seating at a ball game have we gone mad?? Do we think we own the town?? We are in Gulus this is not are home and we don’t tell Goyim what to do it is not our place we belong in Eretz Yisrael. I a side note I went to many Blue Claws games and no one can ban me from anything im a Yid and I have Bichira to do as I wish.

  17. there you go again boro park’r you want to make separate seating. Were in golus if you want to go to a game go but don’t tell goyim to make sepetate seating GO BACK TO BROOKLYN

  18. Dear M.E. I think you should move back out of town where you came from!!! Over there it’s mutur to go to games. DO NOT COME TO LAKEWOOD IHR HATORAH AND MAKE US COMPROMISE ON OUR STANTARDS!!!

  19. To defend M.E., she states that we should set ASIDE (from the goyim) seating for the yidden which will have separate nights for men and women. Read the article before you slam it. Please excuse me I have to go feed my cats….

  20. #6 you are on the ball
    i remember as a kid going up to the country and doing “nothing” with my father the entire summer and loving every second of it the bond we created lasts to this very day

  21. Nice letter its nice that you are able to express your feelings on this public outlet. There will never be a hechsher on a Blue Claws Game! Just Go and have a good time and show your kids that you could be a good Jew and enjoy baseball, I go all the time as so do many other fine Lakewood Yidden.

  22. #27 so you think B.M.G. will get a section of season ticket and scalp them off after second sader?? Please??? We don’t go in the their place and make rules.

  23. The only way to make separate seating would be to have BMG buy season tickets for an entire section and then they can re-sell their seats to men and women on different nights.

  24. Those who go should because they feel it does no harm if you feel it will do harm don’t go. That there was a big deal in the beginning about going its hard to take off that “chairem”

  25. The issue is not bmg. Even if they allow it the schools won’t. And any school that would allow it would do so regardless of bmgs position on the matter. My suggestion to you and I’m sure bmg agrees is use your judgement if your child needs it and it would keep him or her out of worse activity then use your saychel and let them go. And if its not the right thing for your child then even if bmg makes a takanah that you must go you should not allow your child to go. Chanoch lenaar al pi darko. Use your brains not someone elses. perhaps you should entertain the point that if you allow him to go to a ball game it’s just the beginning to the end meaning this is the first step soon he will be bored with a minor league ball game he will want to go watch the majors then he will be bored of that and want to go watch a kosher movie how bad can that be then its on to a not so kosher and then a nonkosher and then no more yeshivah you get my gist the ban is a good thing there is no room in the chinuch of your children for even a little kefirah and chukas hagoyim
    now I’m not saying not to give your child a break after all they are only children and they were not created to sit and learn all day but do you have to go to a ball game for your husband and son to have a good night out what happened to good old fun a nice father son ball game a hike a bbq in the park a slice of pizza and a long ride in the car to nowhere on a nice day just your husband and son together shooting the breeze and having a good time
    you may want to try it someday it works wonders your son will feel a lot closer to his father then sitting next to him on a hard bleachers yelling for some goy he doesn’t even know and when a father and son feel a close bond the son will trust his father and be able to consult him on any life issues that may be thrust his way
    Lots of luck and give it a try
    Nice letter its nice that you are able to express your feelings on this public outlet. There will never be a hechsher on a Blue Claws Game! Just Go and have a good time and show your kids that you could be a good Jew and enjoy baseball, I go all the time as so do many other fine Lakewood Yidden.These posts are getting worse by the day.
    Just teach your child to learn, the more he will learn the more he will enjoy learning.
    This is just the advice of the yetzer, today do this tomorrow etc.
    #6 is right on the right derech.I would even go further is to take your son to a Rav to find out why he doesn’t have a cheshek to learn the whole day. We have very chashuva Rabonim that can help out the Torah way. Giving into the Yetzer is not the way.the writer says that ofcourse this is not for the “yeshivish” parent who wouldnt send his kids to great adventure……..well, maybe thats why his kids are going off the d. know what i mean,?????

  26. the yeshivas ought to allow the guys time to get out and play some wholesome sports. if not their brains will fry and dry like a moldy piece of rye, oh my! there is snow in the sky even though that was a lie which you did not buy im just a regular guy who would rather not die so i will sigh and loosen my tie and get high

  27. It is not an issue of BMG it is an issue of “VAYISARVU BAGOYIM VAYILMIDU MA’ASAIHEH” and ” CHUKAS HAGOI” and ” MA’ASE YEVONI” , so whoever posted this blogg please pick nyourself up and leave town you don”t belong with us if you can have such ideas.
    If you wan”t to give your son a break maybe sit down and learn with him something different or there are so many things you can do together .
    Besides that who said your son needs a break most of the time that is “MA’SSEH YETZER” .

  28. BMG doesn’t have to lift any ban. Those who live a True Torah life don’t need a ban to keep them away from the stadium, and those who want to go to such places, probably don’t care what the Yeshiva says anyway.
    There are plenty of people in this town who have tvs and let their kids watch them, and they probably couldn’t care less what BMG has to say about going to a ball game either.

  29. #27 Correction ; This is “Lakewood Ir HaKodesh , where stop signs are optional” . Before you send anyone away you may wish to look around and that some very choshiv families have children that have gone O / D. There are eleven spices needed to make Katores. We needto find away to live together. Getting rid of Chelbannon wil only make us chyive misa. Something to think abot if your mind isn’t closed

  30. please all of you. stop talking about “standards”. all of these standards are man-made attempts to raise yourselves by pushing down others. This is wholesome entertainment that far surpasses in kashrus the cesspool of the blogosphere. True, it’s not as entertaining as this stuff is, and yes you may be seen driving your 1985 buick century into the blueclaws parking lot, but cmon, let people live a little.

  31. my future son in law who goes to be BMG claims he goes to watch the games in blue claws not during seder . should we re consider him for our daughter?

  32. I am a non jew that loves going to Blue Claw games and knows what it is about. It is not a good idea at all there is a rat trap that sells beer and people are dressed anyway they want. I agree with BMG that it is not a place for a frum jew.

  33. Who needs to watch a bunch of 18 year old kids play? Come to da bronx and watch the real boyz play. We got minyanim for mincha and kosher hotdogs!

  34. to all of you guys it sit and read this and it’s a bunch of lies. My sons play pop-warner football at the park on brook rd and all we see is the jewish people sitting there watching football and cooking on the grill.So don’t sit here and write how bad watching baseball is.

  35. the issur to go to a baseball game isnt a BMG ban! its the first pasuk in tehilim, a gemora in A’Z, all the way down to the mishna brurah. BMG is not in charge of deciding which halachos we are to keep or not.

  36. LETS NOT FORGET THE ISSUR OF LO SE’CHANEM WHICH IS D’ORAISA! EVERY TIME SOMEONE SAY ‘OH WOW HE’S A GOOD PLAYER’ YOU ARE O’VER A ISSUR D’ORAISA!

  37. Good One, I think you missed the posters point completly!

    “Dear M.E. I think you should move back out of town where you came from!!! Over there it’s mutur to go to games. DO NOT COME TO LAKEWOOD IHR HATORAH AND MAKE US COMPROMISE ON OUR STANTARDS!!!”

    The issue is not one of the standards of Lakewood or “out of town” (BTW, Lakewood was out of town when I moved here almost 30 years ago). The point of the poster is that we need to look around at the Frum, Charedi, Yeshivish, whatever name you want to give it, world and ask ourselves why we have the problems we have. As someone who works with “kids at risk” boys and girls, I can tell you first hand that we are the cause of many of our own problems. It may be convenient and easy to blame the “Goyisha velt” but we have to have an honest look at ourselves and stop blaming everyone around us. For better or for worse Lakewood is no longer a town focused only on a small population of the selectively picked Yeshiva elite, much to the chagrin of Rav Aahron ZT”L who was opposed to the “greater Lakewood”. This was changed primarily by those who wanted to make Lakewood into another Flatbush or Monsey, but that is for a different post. Today Lakewood is a “town” of a cross section of Frum people and as such pulling further to the “right” will only continue to alienate those who don’t have the composition to be further to the right. Standards are fine for the Yeshiva and they every right to set those standards. But it is the “Yeshiva” that created this “town” in their image and they therefore need to adapt to what a “town” needs and not to what a “Yeshiva” needs. Forcing a town to the standards of a Yeshiva will continue to have disastrous effects. Of course I am talking within the guidelines of Halacha and am not proposing to “water that down”. As Rav Shimshon Raphael Hirsch ZTK”L says on the Pssuk Mamleches Kohanin V’Goy Kadosh, a Mamleches Kohanin is a “nation” and a nation needs to accept and adhere to the needs of the broader nation not just to one facet of that nation.

    I think this is the thrust of the post, we need to understand why have the issues that we have, and burying our head in the sand and just say more learning, more Sedorim,while beautiful for a Mussar Schmooz defy reality. We must ask ourselves are we concerned about the welfare of the Kllal, the community at large, the Goy Kadosh, or of just the one segment of that society. Count me in for being concerned with the Goy Kadosh and remember, it wasn’t us that made the decision to turn Lakewood into a “town”… but it is, now deal with it.

  38. Why cant we do things the American way. an institution was created for the enjoyment of people. There are many families in the local community as well as neighboring cities, who enjoy Blue claws Stadium for what it is. it doesn’t mean some can only have “certain” beliefs to visit. If you want your children to enjoy a night out with there fathers or mothers cut the leash we all must do it at some point.

  39. Best baseball game I ever watched was in Pine Park about 12 years ago. A bunch of senior citizens were playing and my children and I were the only audience. It was a real scream (I don’t even know how the game goes, but, it sure was a heck of a lot of fun to watch those old geezers doing their stuff). Who needs Blue Claws for entertainment, just get some old guys to play in the park and it doesn’t even cost a dime!

  40. Where is the issur? I moved in 1 year ago and never saw one anywhere! How come everything in Lakewood is assumptions that everyone about everything. Like names and locations of buildings. Best Doctors…

  41. I remember Rabbi Yisroel Belsky used to play great ball in camp Agudah, especially punchball. I had the impression that he made a good impression on kids by knowing about baseball stars and statistics. Groups from our yeshiva went to major league games from time to time. Back then all the food had to be packed. Nowadays we are settling for OTDs as the price of unreal chumrahs. Better all of the klal is together than a few get the bragging rights of saying we are so frum.

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