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| Will Israel's future look like this? (BMG) |
Although all these issues were simmering just beneath the surface, after the last election they surfaced with a vengeance!. It actually boils down to a single question. How much will religion play a role in the future of Israel? Will it be mostly a secular democracy or tend more to a religious theocracy?
The last election enabled a majority government to be formed via the election of the largest number of observant Knesset members in Israel’s history. The two parties where this is the case have widely differing agendas, But they do more or less agree on issues of observance. And have made attempts to insert a little more religion into the lives of secular Israelis that don't want it.
On that score Israel’s Supreme Court has been a thorn in the side of these two parties. The court has almost always sided with liberal democratic values when they conflicted with the religious values. The decisions of the liberal court was final with no recourse available to the religious parties. Religious legislators tried to remedy that situation with a bill that would reform the Court and remove the remove their uncontestable power by means of a Knesset vote that could override their decisions by a simple majority. .
And then all hell broke loose. There have been massive protests by the secular/MO Israelis against the reform. They viewed the secular democratic liberalism that has been the hallmark of Israel’s judicial philosophy that has characterized its democracy for many years. They feared losing it. Those protests generated counter protests by people who supported judicial reform.
But make no mistake. The debate is clearly about what kind of country Israel will be. The battle over the court’s power is just the first volley in a long history of dispute between secular/MO Jews and Charedi Jews.
Is an understanding possible between the Haredi and secular parts of Israel? Will the Haredim inevitably prevail by virtue of their phenomenal birthrate – or do the secular have the advantage via accounting for the vast majority of the country’s GDP? Will there be war – or geographical partition? Are there invisible processes at work?
These are the questions that will determine the future of Israel a few decades from now.
He first rejects the suggestion by Dan that Israelis ought to be free to do as they please in their own homes whether it is to be as obervant as they wish or as non observant as they wish. Heshy responds with the following:
(The) Jewish People (are a) unified entity that embodies a Divine mission. We understand our nation as a unit, traveling at sea in one ship, and one who drills a hole underneath his own cabin cannot pretend to be harming only himself.
This is true. In an ideal world the Jewish people should all be on the same page with respect to serving God. But I have to disagree with him in practice. We cannot impose observance on people that don’t want it. The best we can hope for is the kind of tolerance that Dan suggests. That was in fact the basis for the status quo agreement made between Israel’s first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion and the leader of the Charedi world, the Chazon Ish. They both agree that each side has to give a little in order to get along. That has more or less worked for the past 75 years. In order to achieve the kind of unity Heshy describes, we must do it by example. Not legislation.
Dan then excoriates the high Charedi birth that requires Israeli tax payers to increase allocations to them as irresponsible. Adding that at this rate the economy will collapse.
I don’t think anyone has the right to tell another Jew how many children they should have. But at the same time, I believe Dan’s’ concerns are legitimate. In my view the solution is obvious. The Charedi world must do more to support themselves and not rely so muh on government stipends. The way to do this - as Dan suggests - is to not automatically encourage every male to study Torah for as long as long as possible without any distractions. Including (and even especially) a secular studies curriculum in their schools - if Dan’s concerns are to be properly addressed. This is something I have been advocating as far back as I can remember.
Heshy’s response doesn’t address the issue. He basically says that no one can predict the future. He points to the past predicton about the eventual demise of Orthodoxy when the reverse has happened. In the meantime Charedim with large families deserve their stipends – same as would any Israeli with a large family.
It would have been nice if Heshy conceded the point and said what Rav Dovid Leibel, a respected Charedi leader said. Which is that Charedim may choose as a first option to work for a living instead of full time Torah study. I would add giving them the tools to do so by providing them with a decent secular education through high school. Dan the correctly points out that in the US ‘Haredi men in the Diaspora for the most part have occupations and don’t rely on government stipends and handouts.’
Instead Heshy ignores that option leaving the impression that he is doubling down on a lifestyle of full time Torah study - to be subsidized by taxpayer money. Sadly as Rabbi Slifkin reports, Rav Gershon Edelstein purportedly said that any Mechanech that teahces in a school that offers seclr stidies will lose their portion in Olam Haba! Does Heshy see it that way too?
Heshy concedes that Charedim in the US do ind dcent careers while Israeli Chredim generally do not. But then tries to explain it away with the following:
Haredim in Israel still live in a siege mentality, and believe that many secular leaders want to weaken religious Judaism (and your attitude reveals why). Still, I know many Haredi families who would like to provide good training and advanced education for their children.
Well if that doesn’t say it all. Torah only’ may be the standard by which they live. But given the opportunity many Haredi families who would like to provide good training and advanced education for their children.
That is quite the concession. But Heshy does justify government subsidies to Charedi schools that do not offer secular studies in the following way:
(Comparing) the amounts spent for Haredi students with other expenditures – at universities, and for the general population – that hve no clear economic benefit. Does the funding for the museums, libraries, Chinese art history, philosophy, Greek and English literature, sports activities, music, theater, opera, festivals, Israeli public TV and so on receive as much scrutiny as funds granted for the education of our children? He calls that a double standard.
He’s is right about that. Just as there is value in studying English literature (for example), so too is their value in Torah study – to say the least!
However, in what has to be the weakest argument about the growth of rhe Charedi community and its earning power, Heshy notes the following:.
In the Yeshiva orbit, the best example is Lakewood, NJ. Each year, there is something like an additional 20 classes that are needed in the burgeoning Yeshiva school system. How has this expansion been covered? Simple – Lakewood has become one of the wealthiest communities among the Jewish people, with numerous individuals earning over 10 million dollars yearly.
Really? The suggestion that spending time in a Yeshiva produces multi millionaires is laughable on its face. Yes, there are multi millionaires living in Lakewood. But most residents are not millionaires. A lot of people there require government aid in order to help sustain their large families.
Even though a secular education does not guarantee becoming wealthy, or even finding a good job - that some Lakewood residents have done it in ways that did not require a secular education doesn’t mean that it won’t help them get better paying jobs.
There is a lot more to contemplate in that CC article. It I surely a worthwhile read. Just thought I’d add a few thoughts of my own.
*I received the following communication from Rabbi Grossman. In the interest of fairness and accuracy, I present it here:
