Identity Politics - Charedi Style

The fault lies in what has become known as Daas Torah - as it is used today in the Charedi world. Actual Daas Torah means the wisdom of the Torah. In matters of uncertainty where the public is affected, we find out what that wisdom actually is by relying on the most knowledgeable God fearing rabbis of our generation. I don’t think this is arguable. 

But Daas Torah has become corrupted in the Charedi world in the way that wisdom is determined. Who is considered knowledgeable enough to make that determination? How do we even find out what they said? Has the issue been accurately explained to them ? How was a given issue presented to them if they are elderly and unable to be fully aware of the issue on their own? Who do we listen to if there is disagreement by other great rabbis?  

This is where the concept of Daas Torah becomes abused by people with agendas.  2 of the most famous of which involved Rabbis Nosson Kamentsky and Natan Slifkin. (The details of which are beyond the scope of this post.) 

The most recent example of this is the subject of Rabbi Adlerstein’s Cross Currents post. Therein he objects strongly to what apparently has been said in the name of R’ Chaim Kanievsky by his grandson, Yanky. 

For those unaware, Yanky is R’ Chaim’s source for all matters of public interest to the Charedi world. He tells his grandfather what the issue is and his grandfather responds. Yanky then informs the public.

First let me say that R’ Chaim is indeed one of the most knowledgeable and God fearing rabbis on the planet. But being well into his nineties, he is physically incapable of sufficiently finding out what every new issue involves unless it is explained to him in detail by someone he trusts. That is where Yanky comes in. 

This is not to cast any aspersions on Yanky. I’m sure he believes he is doing God’s work. Just as did  R’Elayshiv’s Askanim (community activists) when they smeared the above mentioned 2 rabbis. But just as was the case with those Askanim, so too is the case with Yanky. He posseses his own biases and cannot help but communicate them to his grandfather – even if unintentionally. That he tries to be objective obfuscates that even more. The same is true with how he transmits his grandfather’s decisions. This gives Yanky and incredible amount of power. He is seen as an agent of Daas Torah. 

Now it’s possible that Yanky accurately transmits exactly what his grandfather’s decisions are. But it is just as possible that he doesn’t. Or that he embellishes those answers. The point is we don’t really know. And yet so much of the Charedi world (especially in Israel) hangs on every word R’Chaim says. And the views expressed by Yanky can be easily be misinterpreted as his grandfather’s views 

Rabbi Adlerstein takes issue with the latest incarnation of this. And he rejects it. As a self identifying Charedi, one might think he has shed his Charedi identity. I can assure you that he has not. But he does reject the recent comments made by R’Chaim’s grandson. Which is the notion that voting for a political party in Israel identifies who you really are. That is patently false as he proceeds to demonstrate. Here in part is what he says: 

A few days ago, Yanky made an important statement about what casting a ballot means. He was reacting to projections that some haredim are unhappy enough with their party that it is likely that they will not vote according to the directives in the community…Voting, he insisted, is an expression of essential identity. You state thereby who you are, and who you are not.

Voting is not an exercise in determining the suitability of the various people vying for Knesset seats. It is not an evaluation of their performance, or a vision of how you would like to see different ministries perform their duties. No. Voting is a statement of your most essential identity. If you won’t vote Gimmel (UTJ), you are not haredi. You are something other. Your otherness will be noted by your children, whom you will impress with your wishy-washy, incomplete devotion to true Torah values, and they, too, will be incomplete Jews. No other consideration matters at a moment of truth like next Tuesday. 

I understand how important it is to the Charedi leadership to have as much control in the government as they can get. The more seats in the Keneset - the more power. But to dismiss someone’s identity as Charedi when his very essence is Charedi because he voted for another party - and to cast aspersions on their offspring who had nothing to do with that is a cruel way to get votes. The ends do not justify the means even though those ends are so important to them. Cruelty like that has no place in Judaism. 

But what about Yanky’s statement? Is there any truth to the belief that party identification defines who you are? Rabbi Adlerstein does a great job in explaining why it doesn’t: 

Our self-identification, I would think, should have less to do with a party platform, and more to do with particular planks of that platform. We should be able to buy into the full commitment to Torah learning, to avodas Hashem without compromise, to halachic detail that are the real core of haredi life, without buying into many other things. We should not have to say we support what we cannot; we should not have to defend the actions of people we loathe to defend, just because they are on the same “team.” 

I wonder though how other Charedim see Rabbi Adlerstein’s dismissive attitude. Do they believe he forfeited his Charedi credentials by summarily rejecting Yanky, a man so strongly influenced by his grandfather that he might be thought of as reflecting his grandfather’s views? I honestly don’t know. Either way I have nothing but the utmost respect for him. He represents the best of the Charedi world. I would hope that he also reflects its mainstream.