Is Rav Dovid Leibel a Closet Centrist?

Rav Dovid Leibel (VIN)

I wish there were more like him. If there were, the Charedi world would look a lot different than it does now. It would in fact reflect a lot more of Centrist Orthodoxy than does the current Charedi model. 

Rav Dovid Leibel’s is the head of the Achvas Torah organization and the Rabbi Akiva Eiger Kollelim. I believe those are pretty solid Charedi credentials. Although I fear he may lose them by virtue of the controversial public positions he has taken which are at odds with traditional Charedi orthodoxy.

One may recall that last summer, Rav Leibel addressed a gathering of hundreds of Charedim in Ramat Bet Shemesh and declared that ‘Chareidi married men should be encouraged to join the workforce and that this is Lechatchila’(as a first choice) over fulltime Torah study.

 And now he did it again. Rav Leibel made public a letter with a message that shatters the myth promoted by so many  Charedim that Torah study protects the masses. Which is based on the ‘Talmudic term ‘Torah Magna U’Matzla’ [Torah protects and saves].’

That phrase has nothing to do with protecting an entire community. What that phrase does mean is that it will protect the individual actually studying Torah. Not anyone else. One cannot transfer an earned Zechus (merit earned by any Mitzvah) to others. Your Mitzvah cannot accrue to my benefit. Rav Leibel put that myth to bed. But here’s the shocker: 

In a startling conclusion to his letter, Rav Leibel adds that those who interpret this statement to imply that they are the true defenders of the community with their studies, thus absolving themselves from communal responsibility, must of necessity take personal responsibility for the Simchas Torah massacre as well as for the soldiers who are unfortunately falling in battle almost daily. 

Wow! I wonder how Rav Leibel’s Charedi colleagues would react to that? My guess is - not well.

Some might see this as a response to some sort of grassroots rebellion in the Charedi world.  There have after all been a few anomalies - sincere Charedim that seem to have bucked the system . Like those who volunteered to join the IDF after the massacre of October 7^th. 

But I don’t think that’s it. Rav Leibel does not impress me as someone who responds to communal desires for change.  I believe that these are his sincerely held views regardless of any groundswell activity. Regardless of any fallout.

Will he be ’kicked out’ of the Chabura (cadre) of Charedi rabbinic leaders’?  I’m sure his views do not sit well with the mainstream Charedi leadership. Nor do I even know what his place is in that hierarchy. But I sure am glad to see at least one respected (til now - at least) Charedi leader having views similar to my own Centrist views.