There is No Recognition of Today’s Realities in the Charedi
World
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| R. Elchanan Wasserman, HY'D - victim of the Holocaust |
Instead there is a mindset that harkens back to an idyllic
Eastern European world of fantasy – a world that is portrayed falsely in
fictional stories and hagiographic biographies and by doctored photographs and
omission of uncomfortable facts.
An entire talented and vital society is doomed to live in
the imagined past and disregard present realities. And if the view of the
present is unfortunately shaped by historical and social disconnect and denial,
then certainly the longer and equally important view of the future will be
distorted and skewed.
The great struggle of most of Orthodoxy in the nineteenth
and early twentieth centuries against Zionism influenced all Orthodox thought
and behavior. As late as 1937, with German Jewry already prostrate before
Hitler’s madness and Germany already threatening Poland, the mainstream
Orthodox rabbinate in Poland publicly objected to the formation of a Jewish
state in the Land of Israel on the grounds that the heads of that state would
undoubtedly be secular if not even anti-religious.
They were correct in that assessment, but since the
Holocaust was then an unimaginable event in their worldview, they continued in
their opposition to Jews leaving Poland to settle either in the United States
or in Israel. Because of this past mindset, the Holocaust is more unsettling –
theologically, at least – to Orthodoxy then perhaps to any other group in the
Jewish world.
One of the consequences of confronting it would be to admit
that great and holy men can be wrong in their assessment of current events and
future occurrences. But much of Orthodoxy is so hagiographic about its present
and past leaders that it cannot bring itself to admit that.
Dealing with the modern state of Israel is an even more
vexing issue for much of Orthodoxy. The creation of the Jewish state, mainly by
secular and nonobservant Jews and by political and military means, was not part
of the traditional Jewish view of how the Land of Israel would again fall under
Jewish rule.
Since it occurred in the “wrong” way and was being led by
the “wrong” people, this too shook the mindset of much of Orthodoxy. One of the
great and holy leaders of Orthodox society in Israel stated in 1950 that the
state could not last more than fifteen years. Well, it is obvious that in that
assessment he was mistaken.
But again, it is too painful to admit he was mistaken and
therefore the whole attitude of much of the Orthodox world is one of denial of
the fact that the state exists, prospers, and is in fact the world’s largest supporter
of Torah and the traditional Jewish religious lifestyle.
It is too painful to admit that our past mindset regarding
the state of Israel is no longer relevant.
The preceding words are not mine. They are the words of
Rabbi Berel Wein. If I didn’t know better, I would say he is a regular reader
of my blog. For these comments express my views exactly. Views that I express here all the time. But I do know better.
Rabbi Wein very likely does not read my blog, or any blogs. He probably never heard of me. Rabbi Wein is a stand alone Jewish thinker par excellence whose head is exactly in the right place. In fact he has just hit a Charedi grand slam.
Rabbi Wein’s column in the Jewish Press (from which these excerpts
were taken) is not the only one that is worthy of note. So too is an interview
of him in the Times of Israel. Both are well worth reading.
If only the Charedi leadership would have his perspective (and I suspect that at
least in the US, some of them privately do) then instead of growing animosity
between religious segments, there would be greater harmony. Instead of
continuing divisiveness, there would be greater unity – which is as it should
be among observant Jewry. I often say we observant Jews have a have a lot more
that unites us than what divides us.
Unfortunately those among the Charedi leadership who do dissent - do not do so publicly. They are afraid of creating
divisiveness. I assume they believe that a public dispute among themselves
will weaken the respect for Daas Torah. When they appear to be unified on
important issues of the day, they must feel that they are serving the cause of Daas Torah.
But in my view they do a disservice
to Klal Yisroel by putting too much emphasis on a unified Daas Torah position
at the expense of expressing their own opposing views. If they believe that
their views are Emes, then by not expressing them, they prevent the world from knowing
it.
And another thing. Rabbi Wein self identifies as Charedi. But many people say
that the views he expresses takes him out of that category.
I guess it depends
how one defines Charedi. If it is defined as one who is Chareid L’Dvar HaShem,
then he certainly is… as are all observant Jews who have Yiras Shomayim - fear of Heaven. Recognizing God’s awesome and infinite power; and
His demand that we follow His Torah places an awesome responsibility upon us. It
is why we serve Him. It is why we are observant. We are commanded to love God
with all our heart; with all our soul; and with all our might. And there is a
heavenly reward for keeping His law and a heavenly punishment for breaking it.
Anyone who takes his Judaism seriously is Charedi, including me.
The problem is that the right wing has co-opted that word
for themselves as a political label. And they define it a lot differently than just being
Charedi L’Dvar HaShem. They have narrowed the definition to include only those
who follow the path the right wing Yeshiva world and the world of Chasidim. So that even the most
religious and God fearing Religious Zionist cannot by their definition be
Charedi. And that's just plain wrong.
I think Rabbi Wein is exactly right here. I generally do not
excerpt so much of an article. But how could I not? I had to because that is
what Emes and Emunah is all about.
