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| Rabbi Yosef Blau |
Rabbi Blau stands up for his beliefs regardless of the
consequences. Even in the face of criticism from right-wing rabbinic leaders
whom I know he respects. If he sees an injustice, he will call it out. This was
evident at the height of the sexual abuse scandals, when many rabbinic leaders
were reluctant to speak out against suspected or convicted abusers in the
Orthodox community. Time and again, Rabbi Blau - regardless of the personal
consequences - stood up for survivors. And for this he has earned my eternal
admiration.
But now his name has surfaced in yet another controversial
area, in the form of a letter. One about which I have some serious misgivings.
As reported by JTA:
The letter was spearheaded by Rabbi Yosef Blau, a longtime leading rabbi at Yeshiva University’s Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, who retired and moved to Israel this year… Dozens of Orthodox rabbis have issued “A Call for Moral Clarity, Responsibility, and a Jewish Orthodox Response in the Face of the Gaza Humanitarian Crisis,” in addition to a recent cascade of open letters from Jewish voices responding to a hunger crisis in the Palestinian enclave nearly two years into the Israel-Hamas war.
Unlike some of the other letters, this one stresses condemnation of Hamas and does not call for Israel to end the war in Gaza. Instead, the rabbis write:
“Hamas’s sins and crimes do not relieve the government of Israel of its obligations to make whatever efforts are necessary to prevent mass starvation.”
The letter also laments the rise of extremist voices in Israel, the hardening of sentiments about Palestinians, and the explosion of settler violence in the West Bank — which they refer to as Yehuda and Shomron, acknowledging the historic Jewish connection to the land:
“The justified anger toward Hamas has dangerously expanded by some extremists into blanket suspicion of the entire population of Gaza — children included — tarnished as future terrorists,” they write. “Meanwhile, in Yehuda and Shomron (the West Bank), extremist settler violence has resulted in the murder of civilians and has forced Palestinian villagers from their homes, further destabilizing the region.”
There is a lot to digest here. First, let me say that I do
not necessarily disagree with much of the sentiment. To the extent that there
is right-wing extremist violence in Yehuda and Shomron, it deserves
condemnation. There is absolutely no excuse to harass Palestinians who have
done nothing to you — regardless of how they may feel about you.
Taking out one’s anger and frustration over the events of
October 7th on innocent Palestinians who had zero involvement
is immoral. Those who do so should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the
law. If, as many of them claim, they acted in self-defense, they can make that
case at trial and see if it holds water. And those in the Knesset who defend
these extremists, or worse, encourage them, are not much better morally.
That this letter does not call for a ceasefire, and
recognizes that continuation of the war may be necessary, is another point on
which I agree. Both the authors of the letter and I recognize that we are not
in a position to make that call. Only Israel’s leaders are. I also agree that
prosecuting the war does not absolve Israel of responsibility toward
humanitarian issues.
But here is where I part company with Rabbi Blau. I am not
convinced that Israel has ignored the humanitarian crisis. To the
contrary, it seems very likely that the crisis has been manufactured or at
least manipulated by Hamas. Exaggerated with lies, and amplified by refugees
themselves who surely know who is responsible. Who full well that Hamas could
end their suffering in an instant. And yet continue to blame Israel in
accordance with their ideology that all the land, ‘from the river to the sea’,
must be liberated from the ‘colonialist Jews’ who have occupied it since well
before the end of the British Mandate. All of which has been perpetuated by a media all to eager to embrace the Palestinian narrative while rejecting the Israeli one.
To the extent that Israel bears any responsibility for the
humanitarian crisis, it is only insofar as it must defend its people from
another October 7th. That Rabbi Blau does not even suggest this
possibility is surprising. By omitting it, his declaration that Israel must not
ignore the humanitarian crisis implies that Israel has done exactly that.
Ignored it or worse - created the crisis
itself.
What does not surprise me, however, is the identity of most
of the other signatories. As JTA notes:
“The signatories are largely drawn from the liberal edge of Modern Orthodoxy, and relatively few hold congregational roles.”
That explains a lot. I have difficulty recognizing rabbis on the far left of Orthodoxy as Orthodox at all. As I recently noted in another post, when your flagship school (YCT) proudly ordains an openly gay man with his future ‘husband’ standing right next to him, I fail to see how they can still be considered Orthodox by any standard. Even a Modern Orthodox one. As I said then:
(The) deliberate violation of even a single mitzvah removes someone from the realm of being fully observant, especially when that violation concerns a capital offense.
So forgive me if I do not quite see their signatures on this
letter as compelling or representative of a genuinely Orthodox position. Regardless
of how they choose to identify.
At the end of the day, issuing a critical letter about
Israel’s conduct in the midst of a war for survival strikes me as a disservice
that undermines its goals. Even if their criticism contain some merit, they
completely ignore Hamas’s central responsibility and ends up falsely placing the
blame on Israel’s leaders. The very leaders who are fighting for the nation’s
survival. That can only hamper Israel’s ability to succeed.
With 60,000 citizen-soldiers called up from the reserves, in
addition to the 20,000 already serving — all poised to put the finishing
touches on that goal - now is certainly not the time to do so.
