The BaDatz of the Edah HaCharedis has deplored violence and bleach spraying! So says a commenter who linked to a post from a November 30th edition to Fred’s blog. Yes they have condemned violence and said it is K’Neged HaTorah .
And that’s supposed to make me feel better. After all they condemned it. Shalom Al Yisroel. Everything is fine now. We know who the good guys are and who the bad guys are. As has been quoted many times from them: “They are hooligans and do not represent us.”
But these kinds of statements avoid the very serious root of these problems, extremism. And I am not talking about extremes within just one segment of the Torah world. I am talking about extremism in all segments. And it does exist in all segments.
That there is extremism in all segments of society should not surprise anyone. It is part of the human condition. And is often the product of the fringes of that community who are taking to extremes, attitudes and policies that are part and parcel of that community. So, when it comes to Neturei Karta embracing a Soneh Yisroel like Ahmadinejad, they are merely carrying to an extreme, the virulent anti Medina Hashkafos of Satmar, their parent Hashkafa. One has to realize that when one preaches hate, it won’t take long before extremists take that hatred to the next level.
The same thing is true when it comes to Religious Zionists. Every responsible Religious Zionist leader condemned Yigal Amir’s act of murder. But Yigal Amir was not raised in a vacuum. He was brought up in a climate of hatred. And his murderous act was just an extention of the hateful way that Hashkafa was taught by certain segments of Religious Zionists.
Extremism can take many forms and be a product of a single issue of any particular constituency. If, for example, one is brought up in a climate of extreme Tznius and taught that the slightest infraction is evil incarnate, it won’t take long for extremists from that society to bleach an innocent passerby based on those Hashkafos… or to beat up a woman who challenged them on their turf.
Extremism in Lubavitch has produced its share of violence, not too long ago at their world headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn. But the greater danger is the tendency of some to take the Rebbe worship to extremes that border on heresy. If one worships a human being to the extreme level that Lubavitch does, well… we just saw what could happen. It is inevitable when that level of worship of a human being is preached.
The Yeshiva world has it’s share of violence too. Just look at what’s going on in Ponevezh. Blood has been drawn there. And bombs have gone off! But the real danger there is the long term consequences of taking Torah L’Shma to extremes. A dependency class of impoverished families has been created by this extreme attitude.
Modern Orthodoxy gets no free pass from me on this either. The extremists there may not be guilty of physical violence but there certainly exists an extremism that is harmful, in my view. There are lines crossed by the Left wing of Modern Orthodoxy that are theologically dangerous, as when a group of Catholic Cardinals were invited to come and learn Torah with students in the YCT Beis Hamedrash, or when socially based feminism or pluralism drives some of the left wing modern Orthodox agendas.
Any philosophy can produce extremist behavior. And when there is violence produced each segment needs to examine its philosophy and see the very poisonous fruit of their trees. Especially when there are virulent attitudes expressed about those they oppose. If one preaches hate one should expect hateful acts from the fringe elements of that community. If one preaches extreme views on some issue one can expect extreme acts. If one preaches Modernity or Rebbe worship, one can expect extreme interpretations of that from some members of that community.
It would behoove the entire Torah world of us to not preach extreme views. One can teach Hashkafos without preaching hatred. For example, Satmar should stop cursing the Medina every chance it gets. It can be opposed to it. It can lament the fact that according to their Hashkafa there is much that is wrong with the Medina. It can even say that it believes the State of Israel to be illegitimate. But the rhetoric coming out of Satmar is hateful and not that far off from that of Neturei Karta. Neturei Karta has just taken it to the next level. The same can be said of the more strident segments of the Religious Zionists. If you keep calling government officials thugs and criminals, what do you think the extremists of that camp will do? What is their “next level”?
I’m not going to be able to solve all the problems that exist in the Torah world with one post… or even many posts. All I can do is point them out when I see them. And try to explain why I think some of these Chilulei HaShem exist in the hope that some of my thinking will be heard somehow by those in a position to do something about it. And that brings me back to this Kol Koreh.
It’s great that the Edah HaCharedis condemn a condemnable act. They state unequivocally that it is Assur to damage private property or do bodily harm in pursuit of Tznius. But this is after the fact. It would be much nicer if they could be Mechanech their people in less extreme ways. That would certainly help prevent such things from ever occurring in the first place.
