The Increasing Animosity Between Observant Jews

Charedim protesting the draft

Once again, Rabbi Natan Slikkin has made some valid observations about the lack of unity in Judaism. He made his remarks based on articles written in Jewish Action lamenting the lack of it among the Jewish people. I tend to agree with much of what he says. Rabbi Slifkin lays much of the blame on the Charedi community’s lack of willingness to participate in the physical defense of the country and the fact that they are woefully underrepresented in the workforce. Both of which generates a lot of resentment from the secular and non Charedi observant world And I can’t really argue with those observations. I see the same thing from here in the US. 

The resentment of the Charedi world that attitude generates is quite understandable. But the leadership class of Charedi world is not passive in their attitude about observant Jews that are not in their orbit. One of the most troubling things to me is that many (if not most or even all)  of the extreme right wing sees them as an enemy of Judaism. And as the size of the extreme right wing world keeps growing exponentially with new every generation, so too do they get more critical of it. 

I could not believe my ears when I heard a quite normal post high school Charedi student studying in a mainstream Lakewood Yeshiva (not BMG) tell me what his Rebbe (or Rosh Yeshiva)  said about Datim (Modern Orthodox or Religious Zionist Jews in Israel). He is of the firm belief that those observant Jews are ‘the kiss of death’ to the country! I kid you not.

 The kiss of death!

I don’t believe this Rebbe is an outlier. His students are being indoctrinated to believe that observant Jews who do not toe the Charedi line will ultimately be responsible for Israel’s demise. Not secular Jews. Not Hamas. Not Hezbollah. Just the kind of Jew that might study in. a Hesder Yeshiva for example. This is what his students are absorbing right along with  Gemara, Rashi, and Tosephos.

Protest against Charedim

This Rebbe quite likely represents the sentiments of the Lakewood educational establishment. When they are challenged about the Hasmada (diligent study of Torah) typical of most Hesder boys, they will respond with a snarky comment like, ‘Hesder Yeshivos never produced any Gedolim’. If a Yeshiva doesn’t produce a Charedi Gadol, they are – not only not worthy of the name - they are the kiss of death to the country. And maybe even to the Jewish people!

Of course not every Charedi leader feels the way this Rebbe does. Rav Asher Weiss comes to mind. While he is not the only exception, I am beginning to think that the ‘Rav Asher Weisses’ of the world are the exceptions. The far greater proportion of Charedi leaders feel the way this young student’s Rebbe does. And therefore a lot more students are under their influence.

It wasn’t always like this. Oce upon a time there was more integration. More acceptance of non Charedim. The founder and Rosh Yeshiva of Ponevezh raised an Israeli flag over his Yeshiva every Yom Ha’atzmaut.  The Rosh Yeshiva of Telshe once spoke at a Religious Zionist event in Cleveland. Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach made himself available to all comers regardless of their Hashkafa. Always greeting everyone with a smiling face and graciousness.

But now, if they aren’t Charedi  they are considered the kiss of death to the country?!

It’s not so much that they do not believe as I do. They are entitled to believe as they wish. Same as I am. That is not what Achdus is all about. It is about respecting each other’s views even when we vehemently disagree. This they do not do!

I would extend this attitude to all Jews. Including those who are secular. One can disagree with a secular Jew without disrespecting them. They will in turn respect you even if they don’t agree with you.  As long as we don’t impose our views on each other we should be able to listen to each other and remain friends.

However, with respect to observant Jewry, I have always maintained (and still believe) that observant Jews of all stripes have a lot more that unites them than what divides them. For me that is just plain simple logic. On a daily basis our almost identical way of observing Halacha by far outweighs any Hashkafic differences we might have. As a practical matter we can live together in the same community; be friends and interact with each other’s families.

In his Jewish Action article, OU head, Rabbi Moshe Hauer says that we should live with a “pragmatic pluralism.” That is already  the reality in many observant communities here in the US. I have mentioned many times that Modern Orthodox Centrists and moderate Charedim already live in the same neighborhoods, eventually get similar advanced education towards a career, work in similar professions or jobs, and our families interact socially with each other. Sometimes we even send our children to the same schools.

How, one may ask, is this possible? Disgusting rhetoric like that of the aforementioned Lakewood Rebbe should make it impossible for the two worlds to unite in any way. When the negative rhetoric is as strident as that, it will surely make social interaction impossible. And yet I know that these ‘mixed’ neighborhoods do exist and the people in them get along quite well.

What appears to have been happening is that once a student left the confines of the Lakewood type Beis HaMedrash and sees that the people who were vilified are not exactly the way they were led to believe,  they tend to mellow and see the world as it really is.

But as the stridency by the 2 worlds against each other increases, I worry that this trend will be reversed. There is more divisiveness than ever. A divisiveness that crosses oceans. And it appears that there is nothing anyone can do about it. Where will all this end? I don’t know. But if Israel and the Jewish people suffer - the fault will lie with all of us.