Cross-Currents just posted an essay by Rabbi Dovid Landesman which addresses the issue of bans by rabbinic leaders. In a nut-shell he tries to say that these leaders are much wiser than the rest of Klal Yisroel, both in Torah wisdom and in ‘street smarts’. And their motives are very pure when they create the kinds of bans like the recent anti-concert ban.
In trying to make sense of the idea of banning concerts, he tries to say that they do so realizing full well that that most people will ignore the ban (Ein HaTzibur Yochel La-amod Bah) but they create these bans in order to impress upon the concert promoters the seriousness of the problems so that they will do their best to minimize them.
The explanation given by Rabbi Landesman does not address the austere lifestyles that bans like this contribute to. There are just too many fences. The Charedi world is so limited and constrained from participation in worldly pursuits that it in some cases it can cause a child to go off the Derech. If one is to believe reports by the Charedi media themselves, the dropout rates in that world are at the highest levels ever.
And that is probably in part precisely what motivates a ban like this. It has been reported by the Charedi media that the reasons for this new concert ban is due to the fact that concerts are the precipitators of the slippery slope out of observance. A statistic was quoted to the effect that over 60% who drop out of observance began doing so by attending a concert.
I would strongly suggest that a concert is not the cause. It is at worst only a conduit for a young person who wants to rebel. A young person who attends a concert with reasons to rebel may find a concert a good way to begin doing so. What the rabbinic leadership seems to be ignoring is the fact that bans themselves might be contributing to the drop out rate.
I don’t think anyone can deny that part of the problem is that many young people just can’t take the lifestyle that is currently being demanded of them and will find ways to drop out. There are of course many other contributory factors, but this is probably one of them.
But with all this said. I do not for a moment impugn the motives of the rabbinic leaders. As I have said many times, their motives are pure and holy. Of this I have not a scintilla of doubt. I do not for a split second think they mean anything but the best for Klal Yisroel. That is what they have dedicated their lives too.
I would add that one does not become a leader in Israel without the necessary requirements of tremendous Torah knowledge, keen insight, perception of realities… kindness and compassion. Their advanced ages and many years of experience dealing with issues affecting Klal Yisroel gives them a level of expertise that few other people have.
So… why all this hand wringing? Why not simply look to these leaders and concede to their superior judgment? The answer is simply that with all that going for them, they are not infallible and mistakes in judgements are still possible as many of them have admitted to themselves. Rav Elyashiv has unequivocally stated that he does not have Ruach HaKodesh…the guiding spirit of God directing his decisions.
The retort might be, who better then them to rely upon then these aged rabbinc leaders? How can we dare to question their sage decisions?
The answer is in the way the Charedi world has evolved in recent history. Edicts that have been made have been shown to be based on mistaken information. I strongly suspect that part of the reason one can seriously question some of their pronouncements, edicts and bans.. is the very same thing that makes them sage… their advanced ages.
Not they are God forbid senile. But because they are in many cases so elderly and sought after. To a Charedi Jew, they are like ‘rock stars’. Whereas in the not too distant past a Gadol was fairly accessible by the common constituent, they now need to be protected from the masses. A network of barriers has been set up between themselves and the public. They still have the same level of high integrity and the same level of caring and Torah knowledge. But their information is filtered through others.
Some of those others have proven themselves to be less then capable of seeing things the way their mentors do. Once you rely on others for your information, Psak is then compromised. No matter how great they are, these leaders do not seem to be making their decisions based on first hand information anymore. They instead make their decisions based upon people they trust. Those people have proven themselves to be less then trustworthy. Ask Rabbi Nosson Kaminetsky.
How could it be that these leaders have made such poor judgments in picking the people they trust? Well that’s a tough one. But I would venture to guess that for the most part the people that they trust are well intentioned themselves, probably bright and Torah knowledgeable too. They are quite Frum and have demonstrated tremendous loyalty to these leaders.
But these loyal followers have taken upon themselves a level of zealotry for their cause that none of their mentors have. As Rabbi Landesman points out zealots cannot be leaders. What has happened here is that the zealots control the information given to these leaders. By presenting it with their own spin they are in essence manipulating what comes out in their leaders' names.
It is with all this in mind, that I truly question the legitimacy of these bans while continuing to have the tremendous respect for these leaders that they deserve.
