Generally, BTs should not give up their interests. They hear their yeshiva rabbis bashing the universe calling everything narishkite when they have their own narishkite. But since it's all so Jewy, you think it's all Torah. "Oh, is that Rav Schelsinger's shul? I know him from Flatbush. We were in yeshiva together." That sounds so religious, but it's probably less meaningful than your interest in the Rolling Stones. I have spent a fair amount of time with people who have the appearance of being very frum and found that they barely talk about Torah at all. They talk about their cousin and the cholent and the kugel. They have nothing on you. So keep your interests. You might want to scale them back a bit but usually it's a mistake to throw them away. It's fun to talk about a topic on which you have knowledge. It's enriching even. It activates the brain. To pretend that the knowledge doesn't exist is unhealthy. Likewise, disparagement of good things is not healthy. A guy tells me he is from Chicago. I say, wonderful city. He says, ach, it's not Eretz Yisroel. I don't know why he has to disparage Chicago. It's an amazing place. It's Hashem's world you know. He created great cities and beautiful languages like French. You don't have to hate them. Problem is that yeshivism postulates that everything outside the yeshiva is worthless. How convenient for people who are in yeshivas all day and earn their living that way. But for the rest of us, it's counter-productive.
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