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| The Ponevezh Beis HaMedrash |
It is with a heavy heart and a fear of Heaven that I am impelled to write these words. But there is no logical explanation in the world that can answer the deep seated questions raised by this continuing appeal being made by Agudah.
My heart is heavy because of my deep respect for the American rabbinic leaders (members of the Agudah Moetzes) who authorized this appeal and for the elderly rabbinic leaders from Israel that are requesting these funds be raised
I understand how they feel. Their motives are pure and based on the belief that they are doing the will of God.
However, even though I come no where near their Torah knowledge and Yiras Shomayim, I nevertheless feel the need to respond based on the teachings of my own late rabbinic leaders. Many of whom were widely respected by the venerable rabbinic peers of their generation. Whom the current rabbinic leaders (on both side of the ocean) also venerated.
I have received several email communications from Agudah like the latest one I got yesterday. Which in part reads as follows:
In the past few weeks, six of the leading Gedolim from Eretz Yisroel— Rav Dov Landau, Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch, Rav Yaakov Hillel, Rav Don Segal, the Rachmastrivka Rebbe, and Rav Avraham Salim — established the Keren Olam HaTorah, a historic fund to replace the subsidies that the Israeli government has withdrawn from yeshivos and kollelim in the Holy Land. Needless to say, the loss of these subsidies would take a staggering toll on the Olam HaTorah in Eretz Yisroel. Also needless to say, the urgency of maintaining high levels of limud haTorah in Eretz Yisroel at this perilous time could not be greater.
What this pitch shows is that all the legitimate questions sincerely brought up by people that are often the most supportive of these rabbinic leaders are being totally ignored. It is impossible for me to believe that they are not aware of writers like Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstaien whose poignant but hard hitting Cross-Currents post on the subject spelled out in detail about the flaws in their rationale for raising funds.
It’s not that I think that the elderly rabbinic leaders of the American Agudah read anything on the internet. Of course they don’t. But their Executive Vice President, Rabbi Chaim Dovid Zwiebel who signed this letter has to be aware what people in the Orthodox world which Agudah claims to represent think. I would think it is part of his job to know that. And then to relay those thoughts to the rabbinic leaders of his organization (The Moetzes).
Which to me means they either don’t agree or don’t care what some of their more prominent supporters think - if they happen to disagree with the decisions of the rabbinic leaders. As I recently put it, it is a ‘Daas Torah’ thing. One must listen to the Gedolim even when one believes they are absolutely wrong. Because by definition we CAN’T know better than them what is right or wrong in the eyes of God no matter what we think. Questioning them then becomes a Chutzpah!
The problem here is that this letter and others like it do not address all the obvious 300 pound gorillas in the room.
The most troubling of which is what Rabbi Adlerstein referred to as ‘arrogant condescension’ by dint of the fact that they ignore the many religious Zionist Yeshivos (especially Hesder Yeshivos) where Torah study is just as sincere as anyone in the Charedi world. And this doesn’t even speak to the outrageous inequity and injustice of their demand to exempt from the army students of full time Torah study (which is virtually all of them). Thereby conveniently sparing them entirely from death and serious injury - while allowing others to do that for them. This is infuriating to – not only to secular Israeli families but the many religious families whose sons and daughters have risked - and still are risking - life and limb in battle. serving in combat.
To claim that the very survival of Torah in Israel depends on the hard earned dollars of people who are financially squeezed to death by the additional expenses of living a religious lifestyle - not the least of which are budget busting tuitions - when there is another more equitable solution screams ‘injustice’ at me in the loudest of terms.
The obvious better solution would be for the Israeli government to restore their funding by agreeing to allow some of their young to be drafted in numbers large enough to fill the needs of the IDF. The rest can be deferred or exempt. That there is no real war against the Torah should be obvious by the fact that religious Zionist Yeshivos are fully funded.
The Charedi world can have it all back if their leaders would would simply compromise along those lines. But they won’t do it. They apparently consider service in the IDF to be a Torah violation. So they will instead squeeze every dollar out of their American supporters they can..
I fear that many Charedi rabbis in shuls all across America will place extreme pressure their congregants to do donate money to this cause. All without sacrificing a dime of ehat they usually give to the Shul or schools they send their children to. They will do so using the same existential arguments made by Agudah.
It is so sad that the common sense of courageous people like Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein and many other like him are being ignored in favor of arguments based on half truths and condescension towards other Bnei Torah. A narrative that is counter to fairness, common sense, and in my view (and the view of my mentors) counter to the Torah itself.