By Alan Perlman
August 27, 2005
In my previous article, "The Banality of Expulsion," I discussed the failure of the New Jew ideology and excoriated the New Jew for the European-like ease with which he willingly destroyed Jewish villages. Nevertheless, the national religious soldier ignored the decisions of its sages and became an equal participant in this destruction. And the failure of this religious "Old Jew" is all the more glaring and serious, because while the New Jew is devoid of Jewish values, the Old Jew is supposedly steeped in them.
It is therefore imperative that the religious community perform, as it must always do in times of trouble and destruction, a heshbon nefesh, a critical self-examination, to see how it earned Divine disfavor and brought such sorrow upon itself. By this, I do not mean the heshbon nefesh perpetually demanded of the religious Right by the Left. The self serving ranting of a lunatic, non-Torah Left that will seize any Torah concept as a club against its opponents must necessarily be ignored. They can clean up or wallow in their own muck, whichever they prefer. Nevertheless, a serious heshbon nefesh by religious Jews is definitely in order.
The national religious community likes to feel, somewhat arrogantly, that it is the perfect blend of all things Jewish: the secular Israelis reject Torah and the land of Israel; the Haredim are great at Torah observance but too lukewarm about the land of Israel; ah, but the national religious Jews have the correct mix of love of G-d, Torah, the Jewish people, and the Land of Israel. And in this self-serving formulation, it errs dangerously.
This is not to say the Haredi community did not also fail. Though the Haredi community prefers to focus on Torah study and prayer and generally eschews political protest, they certainly protest on issues close to their hearts, such as Shabbos road closings and grave excavations. Yet, with the exception of the Lubavitch, Haredim were all but invisible in the protests against this latest expulsion. One suspects that they would not have been so invisible if the Haredi communities of Emmanuel and Beitar Ilit were being expelled. Nevertheless, the failure of the national religious was of a far greater magnitude.
Yes, the national religious do have a tremendous love of the Land of Israel. The settler movement is a proud achievement, and the national religious community should be proud of its fearless dedication in the face of danger, proud of its youth who so strongly fought the expulsion. But Torah should be above all, and in its love for the land, the national religious may have accorded the land centrality over Torah, even using the land as its push-off point for defining Torah observance, instead of the other way around.
The national religious community must ask how it came about that its soldiers, from the lowest ranking to the highest, ignored the religious decisions of its Torah giants, especially on an issue of such great magnitude. Such a thing would never happen in the Haredi world. There, if the Rabbis tell you to refuse, you refuse. Period.
And there were other, related failures.
First, the national religious community sanctified the Israeli army. It failed to teach its soldiers that the Israeli army is not above moral concerns, nor holier than Torah. In doing so, it may have turned the army into a form of idol worship. A true Jewish army should be holy and rooted in Torah; the Israeli army is not. Furthermore, the Israeli army often tries to expose religious soldiers to non-Torah influences in the hopes of "breaking down societal barriers." In this regard, the Haredi world has good reason to shun the army.
Second, it failed to teach its soldiers that destroying Jewish villages is unthinkable for a Jew, something that must be refused. Perhaps it felt that this value is so axiomatic that it need teach it. If so, it made a major mistake, and in doing so, failed the religious soldiers who, in turn, failed the Jewish people. Again, if they served in the Israeli army, I do not doubt that Haredi soldiers would not participated in the expulsion.
Third, in its recognition of the currently unfolding redemption, the national religious sanctified the State of Israel. The secular New Jew so misunderstands Jewish faith that he erroneously thinks that Jewish belief in a complete redemption on the entire Land of Israel is now dead. Nothing could be further from the truth. The process of redemption marches on; it cannot be stopped or derailed, evil decrees or actions notwithstanding. Whether the State of Israel will figure positively or negatively in the redemptive process may remain in question, but not the redemption itself. But the national religious community must shed its sanctification of the State of Israel and approach the State wholly on its merits. And it certainly must not place Israel above Torah.
The failure of the national religious community is of epic proportions, and its parents, Rabbis, teachers, and yeshivot need to rectify this failure immediately. Sure, it must continue to nurture love of the land and continue the movement to settle all of Israel, but above all, it must reassert the supremacy of Torah and the words of its sages. And it must shift from putting its faith in pointless demonstrations and a corrupt political process to taking upon itself additional Torah learning and commitments, and focus on performing additional acts of loving kindness, as the Haredi world so selflessly performs.
In this way, perhaps it can bring additional merit to the Jewish people and thereby hasten and ease the process of redemption.
Views expressed by the author do not
necessarily reflect those of israelinsider.
 
|
|
|
|
Click on the blue headline to read a Talkback comment and respond to it. Click on the  icon to send a private email to the talkback writer. The icon appears only if the writer has decided to be contacted. If no popup window appears, please make sure your popup blocker allows israelinsider.com.
|
|
| |
|
