This is a syndrome affecting much of our generation.
Many people stand in between, not sure how to look at things, not sure how to relate to many issues facing society.
In the past things were clear: good was good, right was right, wrong was wrong and evil was evil.
Now things have become blurred. People question what was once clear to everyone. morality is no longer so clear.
People cross red lines. People mix together things and try to make permissible what is clearly forbidden by Torah.
People stand in between. And that is very dangerous. Very confusing. Very confusing for the next generation, for our children.
Many people claim they are “modern” and therefore they give themselves permission to do things that are clearly against Torah. What does it mean to be “modern”? There is no such thing in reality. Torah does not have a modern aspect. Torah does not change. And therefore to try to claim one is modern is basically saying “I don’t really feel ready to keep everything fully and therefore I am making my own decisions as to what I keep and what I compromise on”. So basically “modern” means compromising Judaism. And that is not okay. One can claim they are not yet ready to fully observe everything. One can claim they have a yetzer hara for perhaps not dressing as modestly as Torah prescribes. But one cannot try to claim that being modern is an acceptable excuse to lower the standards of Torah. That is totally confusing to oneself and to one’s children.
Once yehoshua rebuked the people for being in between, for straddling the fence so to speak, for not taking a firm stand. And in chassidus we learn that standing in between and being in no man’s land is not healthy. One needs to take a firm stance. One needs to stand up for what is right and put down what is wrong. One needs to speak up and clearly state the truth. One needs to remove confusion and darkness from the world and introduce more light. To do that we need to get rid of the in between syndrome.