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| Rabbi Aviezer Piltz (JTA) |
How dare I call Rabbi Aviezer Piltz, a prominent Charedi Rosh Yeshiva, a clown?
That’s because of my respect for the Charedi world. I don’t want to say what I
really think of him. Being a clown is an honorable profession. Just
like being a Rosh Yeshiva is. Both provide a valuable service. A Rosh Yeshiva teaches
our young Torah. And clowns make people happy. In my view Rabbi Piltz doesn’t deserve to
be a Rosh Yeshiva of a dog pound.
If I were a parent of a child in his Yeshiva, he would be out of
there in a New York minute after hearing about what he had to say recently in
Bnei Brak as reported by JTA. In reference to Israeli law forbidding separation
of the sexes on public buses he said:
“Start to organize, to ride separately,” he said at the event Saturday night in the haredi enclave of Bnei Brak. “It’s forbidden to travel on gender-separate buses. Is there a state in the world where they don’t allow [gender] separation on buses? Apart from this country, here they don’t allow it. This is a state of idol worship. Even the Nazis, may their names be erased, knew that there should be separate living quarters for men and women.”
Obviously this fellow is not a survivor - or a child of
survivors. Because if he is, he would have never said that. The idea of separating men and women as they marched to their deaths in Nazi death camps is
in any way comparable to separating men and women on separate buses is offensive in the extreme! What does a survivor who lived under those
conditions think about such a comment?
The idea
that anyone would make that comparison disqualifies them from any position of leadership and responsibly. Much less be in a position
of influencing young people that often treat their Roshei Yeshiva like icons.
How stupid this fellow must be. It doesn’t matter how ‘brilliant’
he might be in his Torah knowledge. He is still stupid if he does not know enough
to make such comparisons even in private, let alone in public. I can only
imagine what else he says to his students in private.
No matter how anyone feels about separating the sexes, even if they are strong supporters of separate buses for men and women, Piltz’s comments are condemnable. And yet, maybe I’m wrong but I have not
heard any condemnations from his colleagues on the right. Where are they? Why the silence? Do they agree with
him?
I understand their views and their passion. A crowded bus
filled with men and women by its very nature would mean inadvertent contact between men and women. I
get it. Separate buses is an understandable request. But there are other ways to solve that kind of problem. For example to simply limit the number of people to the number of seats
on a bus. That would eliminate crowding. Nevertheless, I can understand why
they might be upset by a law that forbids separating the sexes. But declaring what the Nazis did is better?! Really?!
Why not give them what they want? That is because buses are there to serve the
public. Not just a limited constituency. If a half empty ‘male’ bus
stops to pick up passengers who want to get to their destinations without delay
– and there are women waiting at that stop - why should they be
inconvenienced by a stupid rule? Why should they forced to wait for the ‘female’
bus?
There are some in the more extreme portions of the Charedi world that believe that all public transportation should be gender specific. They will never sit next to a member of the opposite sex on a bus. But this
is not a mainstream standard and should not be made a matter of policy on any public conveyance.
There is a well known Teshuva (responsum) by R’ Moshe Feinstein that states
(if I remember correctly) it is not a violation of Halacha to sit
next to a woman on a bus. Should Israeli law require a a religious standard that is greater than that of R’Moshe?
There is
a famous story about R’ Shlomo Zalman Auerbach where an immodestly dressed woman
sat next to him on a bus. He stood up and walked over to the exist as
though the next stop was his destination. Even though it wasn’t. He walked the rest of the way so that would not embarrass
that woman by just moving to another seat. She might have taken offense at that.
I mention this story to show not only his great Midos (good character) but in this instance to show that one of the most respected
Gedolim of the 20th century had no problem traveling on a bus where the sexes
were not separated. Is Rabbi Piltz more religious that R’ Shlomo Zalman? He must
think so! But as far as I’m concerned he is as phony as a 3 dollar bill.
And the lack of any critical comment about that from the right does not speak well of them either. It will only encourage more
statements like that. And as I said, I am not aware of any such criticism.
Where, oh where are the R’ Shlomo Zalmans of our day? They do
not seem to exist.
Chazal tell us that just before the advent of messianic era the face
of our leadership will be like the face of dogs. They might look like leaders,
but they are followers. Just like a dog might run ahead of their master and look
like they are leading him, the truth is that they are always looking back at their masters to
see which way they are going. Despite appearances, dogs do not lead. They follow. This seems to
be the order of our day as leaders tripping all over themselves to prove how Frum they are to their colleagues and the people that look up to them as leaders. They are looking over their shoulders. Not leading.
I guess Moshiach really is on his way.
