The polarization within
the Jewish religious arena is sharply reflected both by the dramatic
weakening of Modern Orthodox streams and in the growing radicalization
of the haredi world and empowerment of its most extreme elements.
I recollect
nostalgically the Orthodox rabbis with whom I was acquainted in the
Diaspora. With the exception of the Hungarian ultra-Orthodox who
deliberately isolated themselves from the broader community and the
fanatically anti-Zionist Satmar Hassidim, they were all committed to the
communal welfare.
Ultra-Orthodox laymen
included doctors, lawyers and businesspeople who ensured that besides a
yeshiva education, their children also learned trades or studied in
university. In a word, most of them participated in the broader
community.
In Israel during the
early decades of the state, aside from small pockets of extremists,
Agudat Yisrael and other ultra-Orthodox groups retained a respectful
attitude to the state and its instrumentalities.
However, with the
growth of haredi representation in the Knesset enabling them to tilt the
balance of power, they succeeded in leveraging vast sums from
successive governments for their education and housing.
Simultaneously, yeshiva
rabbis, devoid of secular education and many with minimal interaction
with society, strove to enroll as many yeshiva students as possible,
irrespective of their abilities. Furthermore, they urged their followers
to devote their lives towards full time learning without earning a
livelihood and rely on state welfare.
This approach has no
precedent in Jewish life. Many of the rabbis debating in the Mishnah are
actually identified by their profession and Maimonides emphatically
stated that "whoever thinks he can study Torah and not work, and relies
on charity, profanes God's name."
The radicalization was
spearheaded by an aggressive haredi hijacking of the Chief Rabbinate -- a
state institution that they had formerly treated with contempt.
In turn, this led to a
determined drive to impose on the entire nation excessively stringent
interpretations of Jewish law in all spheres -- marriage, divorce,
gender separation, conversion and kashrut.
In order to alleviate
acute economic hardship, the great sages of the past creatively
interpreted Halachah on issues like the prohibition against interest and
the observance of shmita (the injunction to allow the land in Israel to
lie fallow every seventh year). In contrast, today's haredi rabbis
enforce the most stringent interpretations without concern for the
welfare of the nation as a whole.
The combination of
extremism, isolationism and political power climaxed with the histrionic
efforts by haredim to resist the government decision to partially
remove the exemption of military or national service to yeshiva
students.
With overwhelming
public support, the government voted to revoke the exemptions which, due
to the massive demographic expansion of the haredi sector, had
mushroomed from the original 400 granted by David Ben-Gurion to over
8,500 annually.
Desperate to retain
control of their followers and maintain the cordon sanitaire they had
created between their world and society at large, haredi rabbis launched
massive protests.
No halachic prohibition
exists against serving in the army of Israel. Our bible is full of
military campaigns and of personalities like Joshua and King David who
personally led, fought and saved the Jewish people in battle. The sages
tell us that a defensive war is obligatory -- a "milchemet mitzvah."
Israelis, especially
religious Zionists who take great pride in their army service, are
outraged by the haredi claim that they are contributing to the defense
of Israel by learning Torah and praying. The former, discredited,
Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Metzger even made the bizarre statement that "when
yeshiva attendance is low, as on holiday evenings or prior to the
Shabbat, more IDF soldiers are killed."
The government made
every effort to achieve this change on a consensual level. The law shall
only be implemented gradually over three years and only apply at the
age of 24. The principal vehicle to achieve this was financial, by
reducing and even eliminating the state subsidies to yeshivas refusing
to cooperate.
Unfortunately, Finance
Minister Yair Lapid, in a populist stunt, succeeded in tabling a
government proposal whereby criminal sanctions would be applied to those
refusing to register. This was utterly impractical as under such
circumstances, the prison system would collapse or be transformed into
de facto yeshivas.
However, the extremists
cynically grabbed this opportunity to radicalize, unite and goad the
entire haredi community into one of its ugliest confrontations with the
state.
The language directed
against the government was disgusting and profane, with some of the
so-called "gedolei hador" ("greatest rabbis of the generation") accusing
the government of "imprisoning Jews for learning Torah" and comparing
political leaders to biblical archenemy Amalek and the Nazis. Rabbi
Aharon Leib Shteinman, widely regarded as the moderate "gadol hador" of
the Lithuanian haredim, told government ministers that they should "go
to hell and suffer and be totally annihilated. ... May their names and
memories be blotted out."
Contrast this vulgar
language to the respect in which disagreements are recorded in the
Mishnah to gauge the depths to which our "gedolim" have descended.
Equally disturbing was
the unification of the entire haredi world in this vicious and
contemptible crusade. Clearly the moderates had been silenced and the
radicals, many of whom are aggressively anti-Zionist and even refuse to
recite prayers for the state or the Israel Defense Forces, are now in
control.
The chief rabbis, who
are state employees, behaved as puppets by participating in the haredi
demonstration -- claiming that they were indulging in "prayers." These
same chief rabbis had earlier issued an injunction that women should not
serve in the IDF, which outraged religious Zionists.
The campaign was
extended to the Diaspora. In New York a major demonstration against the
Israeli government took place in which Agudath Israel of America,
usually loath to engage in anti-Israeli activities, fully participated.
The Rabbinical Council of America, once a proud bastion of Modern
Orthodoxy, responded with deafening silence.
In Melbourne,
Australia, where a similar rally took place, an outraged response
erupted from the rank and file Jewish community so that the dominant
Chabad rabbinate was obliged to write a humiliating letter claiming that
it had misunderstood the nature of the rally and apologize. This
demonstrates that laymen can stand up against extremist rabbis and when
they do, they usually succeed.
The roots of the
problem are that the influential radical rabbis are becoming ever more
extreme and shrill in their isolation from society and attacks on the
leadership. There is a bitter truth in the remark that were Maimonides
alive today he would be denied a teaching post in a haredi yeshiva
because of his worldly knowledge and scientific outlook.
It is sad that a
Diaspora haredi doctor, lawyer or businessman settling in Israel, by
sending his children to a haredi yeshiva denies them the same education
and profession from which he benefited. They are destined to join the
horde of uneducated black hats pursuing Talmudic studies, denied worldly
knowledge and isolated from those who do not share their outlook.
The haredi rabbis are
making a terrible mistake. Instead of cooperating with the government
which is willing to be flexible and gradual in imposing changes, they
are polarizing the situation and leading their followers into an abyss
of ignorance and poverty. Their behavior is reminiscent of those rabbis
in Europe who urged their followers not to leave on the eve of the
Holocaust.
The power of the
radical rabbis will only be reversed if we exercise people power. We
must insist that a moderate Zionist rabbinical leadership take control
of fundamental issues affecting all Jewish citizens. If the
haredi-controlled Chief Rabbinate remains an obstacle, the Modern
Orthodox and national religious camp should set up its own independent
rabbinate.
At the same time, we
must condemn "haredi bashing." So long as haredim do not impose their
standards upon the whole nation and fulfill their civic
responsibilities, they must be treated with respect and enabled to live
their life styles which include many positive components which we could
do well to emulate.
There are no easy
solutions. But if the radicalization continues and we do not succeed in
reinstating moderation and core Zionist principles, the haredi issue
could morph into violent societal confrontation and cause immense
damage, just at a time as Israelis are seeking out their Jewish roots
and becoming increasingly more traditional.
Isi Leibler's website can be viewed at www.wordfromjerusalem.com. He may be contacted at ileibler@leibler.com.
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