Stand apart from this crowd: a call for a religious-liberal rebellion

by time news

The time has come to establish a solid and stable moral religious alternative (Photo: Esther Robian, Flash 90)

The results of the election campaign arouse serious concerns, not to mention anxieties, among the voters of the change camp. These, and I am among them, care not only for the future of the State of Israel as a democratic state, but for its very existence.

It is true that the votes of the voters were distributed almost equally between the camps, and only because of a shameful organizational failure did not translate into a more balanced result in the mandate map; But it is hard to ignore the feeling that this was nothing more than a momentary and fleeting equality, a sort of last moment of liberal grace.

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I am disturbed by the soul of religious Zionism


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The demographic change is already here, and it means a certain strengthening of the right-wing-Orthodox-Haredim camp: according to the data of the Central Bureau of Statistics, as of last September, the highest percentage of children per city in Israel was measured in Beit Shemesh (52%), Bnei Brak (48%) and Jerusalem (39%), while Tel Aviv and Ramat Gan close the list with the lowest percentage (21%). The picture, it seems, needs no explanation; it raises serious questions about the character of the country in the coming decades.

Nadav Eyal put it well, when he described in his column on Ynet two days after the elections – in very thoughtful, painfully realistic language – a little of what awaits us, almost certainly, down the road.

From an economic and cultural point of view, he wrote, “the engines of growth and the high-tech industry will continue to be the crown of creation of the government’s rhetoric – and at the same time they will weaken”, while “the politics of the right-wing-Orthodox-far-right-right-wing bloc will continue to dictate the Israeli conversation”; politically, “There is currently nothing to talk about progress”, and from a civil point of view, you can forget about “taxing disposable tools, or a reasonable commitment to prevent the climate crisis”;This is not enough, “the judicial system will increasingly reflect the values ​​of the ruling coalition. It will take more or less time, but it will be subject to a very traditional-conservative view, in the best case; it will move towards Polish or Hungarian models, in the most likely case”; And finally, at the same time as a quiet but consistent emigration of left-center people from the country, the State of Israel as we knew it will simply collapse: “The change will happen as Ernest Hemingway defines bankruptcy. Gradually, then all at once.”

The demographic change is already here.  Haredim, archive (Photo: Olivia Fitosi / Flash 90)

The demographic change is already here. Haredim, archive (Photo: Olivia Fitosi / Flash 90)

I completely agree with the gloomy forecast – it is hard to argue with such clear data – but I would like to add another aspect to it. Aside from the concern for the future of the State of Israel, I am anxious for the future of the Torah and the Jewish tradition. Is it possible that a glorious tradition that is thousands of years old will change its form – at least here, in Israel – precisely in this way, in an extraordinary show of power, historically unusual, of dark racism and crude art?

Is she doomed to pass through a sweeping conservative, seemingly traditional but false, which forces her to alienate herself from wisdom, knowledge, culture and values ​​of a different origin? Is it possible, God forbid, that we are witnessing the last, sad breaths of a Judaism that preached the dignity of man and his freedom, his rights? Judaism with a universalist awareness, which instilled in the world some of the highest values?

It is difficult to know how the latest developments will affect the future of the State of Israel. But Torah – what will happen to her? It must be stated clearly: the success of the ultra-Orthodox parties – and much more so, of the ‘religious Zionist’ party – is a disaster for the Torah. Hearing the voices coming from the members of these parties – voices of Jewish supremacy, unbridled power, contempt for democracy, civil rights, general education and religious tolerance – an intense feeling of suffocation grips the throat; A feeling of blasphemy.

The future of the Torah

Since the elections, I’ve had a hard time walking around with my crocheted domes in the public space; And I know for sure I’m not the only one who feels this way. I can no longer bear the sociological and political association that it brings in its wake, and even more so I can no longer bear the moral, and in my opinion, the religious low, to which many, far too many of its members have reached – some of them by voting for the party that advocates Jewish supremacy, some of them by agreement – by nodding to this party , of which in non-resistance.

Instead of a kippah, as a temporary solution, I wear a hat. If only there was another way to express what the dome was really meant to symbolize – the awareness of one’s limitations – or, say, to differentiate the design of my private dome from that of the other knitted domes, I would warmly embrace it; However, even if such a solution would make it easier for me personally, it would not contribute anything to the world or the Torah.

Itamar Ben Gabir on the night of the 25th Knesset elections (Photo: Yonatan Zindel / Flash 90)

And it’s terrible. The Torah in which I believe, in the light of which I was educated in excellent midrash houses, and in the light of which I am educating my children, is in tangible danger; Its continued existence is, for the first time, in doubt that should not be taken lightly; And it requires a struggle. But this great and urgent task requires a brave and broad mobilization.

There is a large religious-liberal public in Israel, which does not see a contradiction between its religious way of life and its humanist position – but it is silent. This public is rooted in practical life, science, economics and culture – but in the face of the current murky wave, it has been tiptoeing for too long. This public abhors racism and violence – but it treats racists and violent people with silk gloves. He desires openness and progress, and worries about fundamentalist burning – but out of politeness, or lack of confidence, he usually refrains from saying this proudly.

From a political point of view, this is a diverse public: if you will, a kind of religious ‘block of change’. Most of them are probably on the right of the state and in the center, but there are also left-wing people (like the writer of these lines). His lifestyle is even more diverse, but it can be assumed that a significant part of him supports, for example, the reforms led by Matan Kahana in the Ministry of Religion, and which will now all go down the drain.

This great public, now greatly embarrassed, must wake up; He should stop being silent. He must protect his complex world – firmly, resolutely, fearlessly and impartially; He must declare in a loud voice his commitment to liberal values, human rights, democracy, science and education – without being confused and without fear; He must resist in every way the attempts of conservative elements to take over the religious education system; He must fight racism and nationalism that eat away every good part. In short: he must distinguish himself from the bad group that took over his house.

The silence of the moderate religious leadership

Another word, especially painful, should be said to the rabbis and rabbis who are and are identified with this public – at the Mount Etzion Yeshiva and the Migdal Oz Midrash; At the Ein Hanziv yeshiva and the Ma’ale Gilboa yeshiva; at the Mahaniy yeshiva and at the Broriah yeshiva; at the Orot Shaul yeshiva in Tel Aviv and even at Ataniel; in the organizations ‘Zahar’ and ‘Beit Hillel’; here and there in the education system and in other places – the current failure is largely written in your name as well.

Bezalel Smotrich, the success of religious Zionism under his leadership is a disaster for the Torah (Photo: Yonatan Zindel, Flash 90)

It is very difficult for me to write this, because many of you are really my teachers and gentlemen; However, for too many years you have been silent, hesitating before every charged sentence, sanctifying – although not without justice – caution; We avoid, and this is perhaps the root of the problem, from placing clear red lines; And with the exception of a few cases, you leave the sharp criticism of other midrash schools to private conversations and closed forums. But the horses have already escaped from the stable, and are running wild. Don’t you see which characters have taken over the conversation in the meantime? Do you not understand what types are now defining what ‘Jewish identity’ is, and serve, in our wrongdoings, as an example to the general public and the youth?

I know many of you are feeling uneasy about some of the recent developments. But almost no one hears you. True, you say, what do you and that; You prefer to spread light and not to accept a conviction. You also know who is guilty of all this, and are careful – in my opinion wrongly – not to harm their dignity. Indeed, it is not easy to get out of the comfort zone. Any public statement on the issues at hand will have a price; You will experience it not only in the virtual space but also in the midrash houses and synagogues, and the poison machine that has operated here with such great success in the last year and a half, will be directed towards you. Other rabbis, who are now having a difficult political time, will clash with you.

However, the State of Israel and the Jewish tradition are both at a crucial and dangerous intersection that binds them together, and each of you should honestly ask yourself what will be the moment when you will have no choice but to raise your voice and stand bravely against the winds of time; What will be the moment when there will be no choice but to talk openly with students, and with the general public as a whole, about politics and citizenship.

Let me tell you a little about the news of the last few days. A new member of the Knesset was proud of a photo from his military service, in which he is seen leaning on three Bedouin detainees with cuffs; The head of his party participated in the memorial service for the leader of a Jewish terrorist movement; Their party member appointed a hillbilly boy convicted of violence as a parliamentary assistant; On Shabbat Parshat Hai Sara, dozens of Jews rioted with Palestinians in Hebron; Soldiers violently attacked left-wing activists, gaining the support of several members of the Knesset; And the head of their other party stated that human rights organizations are an ‘existential danger’. I will leave the historical comparisons to you.

In the meantime, you are silent. Soon the expected legislation of the superseding clause will arrive with a minimal majority, which means that the sovereign is no longer subject to the word, and that the weak can no longer cry out; With it will come a change in opening fire instructions by the designated minister of internal security; Preventing investigation of soldiers after shooting incidents; discrimination of minorities on racial grounds; The rabbinic courts’ world burdening of foreigners, divorcees and widows; A blanket exemption from core studies in the ultra-Orthodox community; and more. These are just a few examples out of many – and we did not say anything about training any corruption and the culture of cheating – and they are completely non-theoretical.

“I can no longer bear the sociological and political association that the crocheted dome drags in its wake” (Photo: David Cohen, Flash 90)

Will you continue to be silent even then? Does the Torah we received from you have nothing to say about these issues? Is the discussion of them, for you, academic, beit midrashi only? Time is pressing, and the more it passes, the more you persist in your silence, the more you will no longer be able to say in the future ‘our hands did not shed this blood, and our eyes did not see’.

Time to make a sound

Know that there is a wide public – religious and non-religious – that is waiting for your voice. who wants a different Judaism, different from the one that has recently dominated the public discourse.

My proposal is, simply, to stop having false imaginations about the unity of the camp; The community of knitted domes has long been uneven, and the cracks that arise from time to time between its various parts must be widened and deepened.

The time has come to gather and stand up for ourselves, and establish a solid and stable religio-moral alternative, whose ways are the ways of Noam and whose paths are peace. “For it is not just a word from you, for it is your life, and with this word you will prolong your days on the land that you are crossing the Jordan to its border” (Deuteronomy Lev, ps.

Dr. Itai Marinberg-Milikovsky, graduate of the Ein-Zurim religious kibbutz yeshiva, scholar of Sage literature

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