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| HaRav Matisyahu Salomon |
I suppose that the way he explains it, it might
be heresy to say such a thing. To make the claim that learning
Torah is not ‘sharing the burden’ is indeed a slight to learning Torah.
Learning Torah does help protect Israel from harm by its enemies just as a physical
army does. Those are 2 necessary
components.
But it is a gross misunderstanding to characterize ‘sharing
the burden’ in the way Rav Salomon does.
The burden that is not shared - is the one that involves putting oneself
in harm’s way. I can’t repeat this enough times. Rav Salomon cannot possibly think
that Yeshiva Bachurim (Lomdei Torah) risk their lives in the same way as a solider in combat does. They
are nowhere near harm’s way while they are in a Beis HaMedrash being protected
by soldiers who do share the burden of risking life and limb.
Once again we see a great rabbinic figure who apparently does not understand what it is that really upsets the non Charedi
public – which includes many observant Jews. To say that our views are
Apikursus is both false and insulting - even if unintentionally so. Nor does Rav Salomon even attempt to give
credit to those who do risk life and limb protecting those Lomdei Torah – as did
a Gadol of the previous generation, Rav Chaim Shmulevitz.
How sad it is that a leader of such great stature in the
Charedi world feels he has to insult so many observant Jews in order to make
his point about the importance of learning Torah. Would it not serve Klal
Yisroel better if he were to first acknowledge the contributions of those who
do serve in the IDF?
And wouldn’t it also serve Klal Yisroel better if he were to
understand that ‘sharing the burden’ means participating in the risk to life
and limb equally… and not meant to denigrate the contributions of Lomdei Torah
to our survival as a nation?
Statements such as those made by Rav Salomon are very
upsetting. Is there any wonder why there is such a lack of Achdus in Klal
Yisroel?
But all is not lost. I do in fact agree with his final paragraph:
But all is not lost. I do in fact agree with his final paragraph:
HaRav Solomon said if there are מקטרגים (opponents; detractors) on the Torah, the Gra teaches us that this is a sign of the תביעות (claims) against us in Shomayim and while today we do not have prophets, one can know this is bases on מידה כנגד מידה (measure for measure) and we must look and see from where the פורענות (troubles) come from and this is the area where the teshuvah and מעשים טובים (good deeds) must be focused.Indeed. Perhaps God is sending a message about an area that needs improvement. And perhaps the first place his community should be looking at is in how they have reacted to this very issue. Perhaps if they would treat those of us who have made this statement (about sharing the burden) with a measure of understanding and respect instead of calling us Apikursim, we would return that respect and understanding measure for measure.
