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| Getty images - via the Forward |
What’s troubling me is that throughout his essay he weaves the
idea that Charedism is all about negatives and not in the slightest about the positives.
He paints the entire Charedi enterprise in monolithic tones as if they are all
guilty of the crimes of the few… or at least tolerate them. One would think that all Yeshivos in America are
ethically challenged… that they all use devious means to gain federal funding.
Israeli Charedim put American Charedim to shame, he says, in their ability to do that in Israel. He also
goes into a litany of negative stereotypes painting all Charedim with the same
broad brushstrokes and then calls for a virtual financial war against them –
with the intent of de-funding them and ultimately destroying them.
What Mr. Michaleson does not understand – or chooses to
ignore – is that the vast majority of Charedim are moderate. They are the
mainstream. They are as opposed to the
negatives as he is. But their philosophy is still Charedi in that they support
full time Torah study and tend to be more stringent in various Halachos that
allow for leniencies (like Chalav Yisroel). Many also tend to have good jobs
and often get professional training and become professionals themselves. There
are plenty of successful Charedi businessmen, attorneys, accountants, doctors, dentists,
and even university professors. At least here in the US.
Israeli Charedim do not generally have professions unless
they are immigrants who’ve had a decent secular education. That is one of the
problems I harp on constantly here. But even so, they are not the evil
unethical people that Mr. Michaelson makes them out to be.
In response to Mr. Michaelson’s article, Jonathan Rosenblum
does a good job in describing the good in the Charedi lifestyle. One which he
joined by choice. Although he does not
address the problems listed by Michaelson in this article, he has addressed
them all in many separate articles. He acknowledges many of the problems Mr. Michaelson
brings up… and has even at times been criticized for it by members of his own
community.
Jonathan Rosenblum is one of those Charedim that I call
moderate. I believe that his views reflect the views of most Charedim. While I
don’t agree with him on everything, I respect his views as legitimate in an Elu
V’Elu sense.
He actually sympathized with me in an e-mail exchange when I
lamented the fact that there are no Limudei Chol (secular) studies in Israeli
high schools. He had defended the Israeli educational system but conceded that
he placed great value on the education he received at Yale – and he draws upon
that knowledge quite often. I sensed that he feels it would not be the worst
thing in the world if Charedim did have a bit of Limudei Chol in their
curriculum – although he did not actaully say so. He has often expressed
understanding if not agreement with all those who advocate ‘sharing the burden’.
It is also interesting to note that Jonathan Rosenblum who
puts himself foursquare in the Charedi camp – is an adherent of classical Hirschean
Torah Im Derech Eretz (TIDE). He has said so many times and has written articles
defending and supporting it in debate with those of us who believe in Torah U’Mada
(TuM).
He is not the only Charedi who sees TIDE as the optimal way
for a Jew to live. Although there are ideological differences between TIDE and
TuM, I do not see all that much practical difference between them. I would be
more than ecstatic if all Charedim would buy into TIDE for their Hashkafas
HaChaim… their outlook on life.
The point of Jonathan’s retort to Mr. Michaelson’s is not to refute his allegations point by
point. I’m sure that he would even agree with many of them. It was to counter
the purely negative description by explaining why he bought so strongly into
the Charedi lifestyle.
I agree that the Charedi world – even some of the more
extreme segments of them - are very
altruistic about their ideals. Those that are sincere and spend full time in
Yeshivos do spend the majority of their day studying Torah diligently. They probably
work as hard intellectually as any secular scholar (or maybe even harder).
If one steps into the Mir at any given time of the day, one
will see a Beis HaMedrash full of Bnei Torah in intense study – either with a
Chavrusa (study partner), or in one of the many Chuburos (study groups) or even
alone in deep concentration in one of the multitudinous Seforim (books) written
by commentators on a particular topic in the Gemara or Halacha. No matter what any
given student’s level of expertise is on any given subject, no one can deny
their dedication and diligence.
Of course there are also plenty of Yeshiva students in the periphery
just hanging out and schmoozing – either in the halls or outside the building.
But they are minuscule compared to the numbers on the inside. There is something
quite inspirational in seeing this.
But their lives are not just about Torah study - as Jonathan
points out:
People extend themselves for one another in extraordinary ways and share the rhythms of the seasonal calendar. When a study partner of mine, a Harvard and Oxford-trained classicist, passed away suddenly, leaving behind ten orphans, we raised $300,000 for his family, most of it in the form of monthly bank orders from Talmudic scholars, with large families and monthly incomes of $2,000 or less. When a neighbor needed a liver transplant, a group of a hundred of so men gathered every night for two weeks, until he was out of danger, to recite Tehillim on his behalf.
It is a community of extraordinary generosity. In my neighborhood alone, there are 200 or so free loan societies listed in our neighborhood directory for everything from medicines to bridal gowns to infant pillows for the bris. Virtually every major volunteer organization in Israel was founded by Haredim…
These facts are undeniable. Why would anyone want to destroy
a society like this? Not that it is beyond any criticism… as people who rread
this blog know. It does need some serious tweaking in many areas – mostly in
eliminating some of the problems mentioned by Mr. Michaelson - especially in
Israel. I have written some pretty harsh criticism along those lines. But I
have neither God forbid called for their destruction nor called mainstream Charedism
a destructive force.
There is a lot to admire there. As in most things this is
not a black and white issue. But one thing is certain. We can learn a lot about
living a spiritual and altruistic lifestyle at great material sacrifice… and
yet - while living the most modest of lifestyles – they are among the most charitable
people in the world.
