Yesterday a poster on the Areivim e-mail list who lives in Israel wrote of a visit he had with some Charedi relatives. He characterized it as a “Disturbing conversation with Charedi re status of Chilonim”. I couldn’t agree more.
During the visit one of them, who claimed to be in the know (and is clearly very aware of what's going on) told him that just about all Charedim no longer follow the Chazon Ish's Psak that a Chiloni is a Tinok SheNishba (...a Jewish child captured by a non Jewish or non Torah culture and raised that way). Rather, Rav Elyashiv and others believe (but do not publicize in the media) that Chilonim have the status of the classic Mechalel Shabbos. Therefore, Hatzalah members are instructed to avoid being in the situation of having to be Mechalel Shabbos for Chilonim; however, if they are present, they should not refuse because of the din of Eivah.
The Charedi relative then said (on the very same day as a terrorist attack killed nine Jews and seriously injured many others) that many Charedim feel there is no reason to be sad when Chilonim die in a terrorist attack--after all, they are Mechuiv Sekilah anyway.
I have long suspected that this is indeed the attitude of a great many Charedim about their Chiloni brethren. Perhaps it isn’t the majority. But the fact that someone who says he is "in the know (and is clearly very aware of what's going on)" claims this to be the general attitude makes me suspect that it is far from rare. I have personally heard denigration of Chilonim from the mouths of some Charedim. The very expression of the thought: "that there is no reason to be sad when Chilonim die in a terrorist attack--after all, they are Mechuiv Skilah anyway" is not only frightening but so clearly wrong!
How can Rav Elyashiv Paskin that a Chiloni has the Din of a classic Mechalel Shabbos? They were raised without any real Torah education and were instead raised in many cases by anti-Torah parents or at best by complete ignoramuses of any Torah knowledge. If anything is classic, it is their status of being Tinokos Shenishbu.
This attitude is one I heard before in another context which is just as bad.
A few years ago a very close friend of mine who is a Tamim V’Tahor was hired as a general studies principal at a Charedi Yeshiva high school. He told me that when he first got the job he was appalled at the behavior of these otherwise fine Bnei Torah of high school age. These kids had the kind of Derech Eretz for the Roshei Yeshiva and Rabbeim one would expect of them. But when it came to secular studies teachers, they berated and ridiculed them both behind their backs and to their faces. This, obviously created an enormous Chilul HaShem.
But it didn’t faze these kids one bit. They had the same kind of answer that this poster’s relative did: Since the death penalty is applied to a Ben Noach if he violates any one of the Sheva Mitzvos, they reasoned: Why not treat them like that? Min HaStam they stole something in their lives at one time or another and are Mechuiv Misah anyway!
What did the Roshei Yeshiva do about it? Well, after the prinicipal pointed this out to them they tried to stop it but their efforts were tepid at best. The principal eventually directed his efforts to correcting the attitude and I believe he was successful for the most part. But the following questions remain: How could these Roshei Yeshiva have ignored or not seen the problem? Where was the concern for Chilul HaShem? How did these boys pick up such an attitude in the first place? Are their parents responsible? ...their Rabbeim? If it was their Rabbeim, which ones instilled these attitudes in these boys and why? And are they still doing it?
A while back I wrote about the idea that human beings are created in the image of God. This is not a value specific to the Modern Orthodoxy. It is a universal Torah truth. Yet Bnei Torah are allowed to harbor such hateful views of fellow human beings... to the point of believing that they are all worthy of a death penalty! And now I hear the same attitude expressed about Jews who by any reasonable standard should be considered Tinokos Shenishbu!
I will close with a story I heard just today in the name of the Klausenberger Rebbe by an individual who heard it personally. The Rebbe told him that there is no such thing as a Goy who doesn’t want to murder Jews. One might ask, he said, “What about a primitive African native who never saw a Jew in his life and doesn’t even know what a Jews is?” They too are like that because their governments are all members of the UN who are all out to kill the Jews.
Maybe we can now understand why there is such baseless hatred for non Jews and Chilonim. The Klausenberger Rebbe is one of the most venerated people in the Jewish world and for good reason. Every thing I ever heard about him has only been of a most remarkable and inspiring nature... a truly selfless and giving individual to Klal Yisroel. If such a person can make an indiscriminatory remark like that, it must be true.
