Knitted News30.03.22 20:15 27 Adar B. Tishpev
(Photo: Mark Neiman, GPO)
Following the attack on Rabbi Bnei Lau and the 929 venture, due to Lucy Aharish’s participation in the 929 conference, Yedidya Lau, the son of Rabbi Bnei Lau, comes out in defense of his father.
“I’m doing two things now that I try not to do – discussing a public issue on Facebook and protecting my dad,” wrote her friend Lau on his Facebook account.
“Assimilation is bad,” he wrote. “Both intermarriage and spiritual assimilation and the loss of connection to the Torah. Among other things, this is what 929 is dealing with – the loss of connection to the most fundamental anchors of Jewish identity. My father himself wrote about it a few years ago.”
Lau Jr. added that “there is no connection between this and the current campaign, which unfortunately Rabbi Ram is also drawn to (I write this after meeting with him for a long conversation). I too, like any Jew, was a little shocked at first. Really how can To give a stage to the “symbol of assimilation” at a conference that deals with the Bible (even in a moshav on Torah for all in the world). It really looks bad. That’s why this campaign is so effective and ingenious. From the moment Lucy Aharish is the “symbol of assimilation” the opposition is clear.
“But Lucy Aharish does not wave any flag of assimilation and has not made herself a symbol. She is an Israeli Arab who supports Israel, a popular and beloved presenter, and most importantly – a partner of 929 for many years, even before her connection with a Jew became known.”
“My father suggested to Rabbi Chaim Navon to talk to her and hear it from her directly. Her invitation was made in good faith, without anyone involved at all remembering this biographical detail of hers, which she does not flaunt and is not her branding.”
“So who decided she was a symbol? A good question. A question that should perhaps be asked of the organizers of the Even Israel Conference on Jewish Education in a Postmodern World. A conference that Rabbi Druckman invited to attend, featuring Rabbi Yehoshua Shapira and Rabbi Hananel Etrog and, how wonderful, Rabbi Chaim Navon and “Gadi Taub. He himself is married to a non-Jew. At a conference on Jewish education. Half a year ago. So the Torah did not fasten a sack, because it is a conference for conservatism and conservatism.
“Rabbi Ram told me that in his eyes it is indeed very serious, but it is clear that he did not go out now against Rabbi Druckman nor against Rabbi Amnon Dokov, who is also a teacher and rabbi from Yeshivat Otniel and attended the same conference.”
“Should we fight assimilation? Yes. Should Lucy Aharish be made a ‘symbol of assimilation’ in order to hit 929 helping to fight assimilation? Allow me to remain in doubt.”
Rabbi Benny Lau confronts Jewish power activists. archives
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