Let’s End the Cold War

Here’s something shocking that came through on a WhatsApp group this morning.

” DIVORCE THE HAREDIM…. A new fault line has emerged in Israeli society. There are now two groups–the givers (meaning anyone who serves in the IDF) and the takers, meaning the Haredim who will be forever remembered for their  abandonment of responsibility for our fate here.”

These aren’t my words. They were penned by the prominent, right-wing, religious-leaning journalist Kalman Libeskind, but are they correct?

Are Haredim really a society of takers, as Libeskind suggests?

What about the many Haredi voluntary organizations (Yad Sarah, Ezer MiZiyon, Hatzolo, Ichud Hatzolo, to name just a few) that serve all sectors of society, including Israeli Arabs? That doesn’t sound like taking.

What about people who assume voluntary poverty to spend their days and nights studying Torah?

What about women who have babies every year or two for the sake of G-d and His people?

None of this sounds like taking.

Do we all have to be the same and think the same way to co-exist?

Since the beginning of time, Jewry has tolerated differences. Look at our ethnic subgroups, Poles and Hungarians, Tunisians, Moroccans, Yemenites, Ethiopians. Bukharians and more  -each with its own accent, foods, and religious customs.

We are full of disagreements whether they are about foods–does one  eat kitniyot or gebrochts,  head covering–a wig,  a headscarf, or nothing, or even the timing of the end of Shabbat–Rabeinu Tam or Rashi? We disagree on the fine points of Jewish law and custom but we pray together to the same G-d.

Here, too, we disagree.

The religious Zionists see the state as the “first flowering of our promised redemption.” For them, military service, even in a coed army, is a sacred duty. The Haredim take a different stance.

For Haredim, the state isnt holy nor is the IDF. Some Haredi rabbis argue that Jews should not have even insisting on sovereignty. Haredim believe that we are still in the galut and must tread with caution. That means no to Ben Gvir’s forays on the Temple mount.

If Haredim were in charge on October 7th, the government may have avoided this war. As suggested interestingly by British journalist Melanie Phillips, the hostage crisis could have been resolved through diplomatic means, right then via Qatar, avoiding the massive bloodletting that continues to this day.

The religious Zionist community has indeed absorbed painful losses. Now they moan loudly about being left to carry the burden alone.

Haredim argue that focusing on Torah study and observance of mitzvot is a means of sharing the burden, as it creates spiritual merits that protect all of us. Yet neither side seems able to acknowledge the other’s value.

As Liebeskind points out, the two communities are like an unhappy couple on the verge of splitting up.

Sadly, this anger has divided friends and families. Too many Haredi and religious Zionist friends or relatives, even siblings, have put their relationship on ice.

This is killing us. As the people who cherish the Torah, who live by its precepts, who want this country to be truly Jewish, we share so much, but instead of working together, we are at each other’s throats.

Let us be mature enough to acknowledge that we are not the same.

We all have different parts to play. Some fight on battlefields, while others fight in the tents of Torah.

We recently experienced another Yom HaShoah. Our ancestors walked into the gas chambers together. Let us honor their legacy by respecting and loving one another, for we are all the children of Hashem. Only in this way will we achieve lasting peace in our land.