There's nothing like a little intimidation if you want to get your way. I'm not saying there was any here but it sure seems like it.
One of the more festive events that takes place during the holiday period in Israel is something called Hakafot Shniot. After the the Yom Tov ends, many Shuls will hire bands and have an outdoor Hakafos at night. This is an event that surely ends Yom Tov with a bang. It invites entire communities to come out and join in the festivities one last time…dancing and singing in the streets… in celebration of the Yom Tov just past. Jews join hands with fellow Jews of all stripes as they dance in Simcha and in unity.
I am not much of a dancer but I appreciate the exuberance expressed by the crowd. There are parents, grandparents, teens, and children of all ages all 'dancing to the same tune'. It's a very festive and memorable event.
Perhaps one of the largest of these is the one held annually in Kikar Shabbos. This is the very Charedi public square between the Meah Shearim and Geula neighborhoods in Jerusalem. I can't imagine a more fitting location.
And neither, I guess, could the Brisker Rav, Rabbi Yitzchak Zev Halevi Soloveichik apparently. According to Rabbi Menachem Porush it was the Brisker Rav who had personally told him to hold this celebration in public.
But this year there was no such celebration in Kikar Shabbos. The reason: the ban against outdoor concerts. Rabbi Porush who is on record as always following the edicts of the 'Gedolim' would never go against their words. But this time it was not without a fight:
Sources speaking for Porush initially said the only person authorized to cancel the event was the Brisker rabbi, Yitzak Ze'ev Halevi Soloveichik, who had personally ordered Porush to hold the celebrations in public.
Yes he tried. He too did not think the ban was warranted… at least not in this instance… and fought for Hakafot Shniot in Kikar Shabbos initially. That he decided to accede to the will of the 'Gedolim' after being pressured to do so is certainly not a surprise. But the real news is that he actually had the courage to publicly defy them at first.
Just to be clear, I am not commenting on the validity of the concerns expressed by religious leaders about Tznius at these kinds of events. Been there and done that. I am just making note of the fact that the thinking on these matters is not as unified as some in those circles would have us believe.
I personally hope this is a harbinger of things to come. One small thin little voice of protest short-lived though it was… may have an enduring impact on future edicts.
At least I hope it does.
It is one thing when a secular Jew or even a religious Zionist or modern Orthodox Jew defies a Charedi rabbinic edict. But when a prominent Charedi elder voices public opposition, that hopefully means that there are cracks in the wall.
I'm sure Rabbi Porush would disagree with me. But he can't disagree with his original comment. And that's progress. I hope.
