The Hareidi Share the Burden Puzzle

Among the most contentious of issues in the last Israeli elections was whether and how to integrate the Hareidi into IDF or public service in an equal manner as the rest of those Israelis who are required to serve. Some of the debate was whether it was fair to demand such of the Hareidi while continuing not to require the same sacrifices from the Israeli Arab and other non-Jewish minority populations. Obviously in a perfect society all of the peoples would share equally in all State functions and face the same obligations and requirements while receiving the same benefits. No group would be exempt from service and no group would be denied the privileges which go with citizenship. Unfortunately there are no perfect societies though mankind over the millennia have strived and made strides towards that society. The Israelis are currently debating such a change in the requirements of the various and different sectors of their society in order to make all carry an equal share in the burdens.

 

The first point of contention which has to be conquered is how to integrate the Hareidi while also permitting the continued Torah study, a service to Israel and to Hashem which is of particular concern and the primary of importance to the Hareidi society. Previously the Hareidi had been exempt from performing mandatory IDF or public service as long as they were engaged in study of Torah and other religious disciplines. Yair Lapid leads the Yesh Atid Party, the second most numerous in the coalition, which is a secular party which has promised during the campaign to force all Hareidi to serve in the IDF or face heavy criminal penalties. They are facing the head party of the coalition with Prime Minister Netanyahu as well as their primary partners in the Bayit Yehudi lead by Naftali Bennett who both agree that the Hareidi need to be included in service but do not believe they should face as serious criminal punishment if they choose not to serve. They believe that the Hareidi should be treated more like conscientious objectors if they should choose not to be drafted into IDF or public service. The question that will now play out is can some compromise be found which will be acceptable not only to the two political camps, but even more difficult, one that the Hareidi will accept which finding such a solution would solve the entire disagreement returning tranquility to the Israeli public.

 

So, the first step to finding a solution is to properly define the problem, the entire problem and not just the talking points which the two sides use to stir up their supporters. The problem is not honestly finding how to integrate the Hareidi into all sectors of Israeli society, not just into primarily IDF service. Up to now the Hareidi not only enjoyed a permanent deferment from military service but were also left apart from all of Israeli society which included most areas of employment. The public call for the Hareidi to be made to carry an equal share of the burden of IDF and public service must also include equal opportunity in all areas of Israeli society for the Hareidi including in employment. One of the other complaints which have come to the fore is that the Hareidi are subsidized by the government to a larger degree than any other sector of the society. This is simply a symptom of their not being integrated into the workforce, something that was not entirely their preference. Of course the rest of Israeli society gave a reason that the Hareidi were facing such reluctance in gaining employment was due to the fact their education was so focused on Torah that they were unemployable. That excuse was not completely true as many Hareidi have studied subjects outside of Torah plus not all employment actually requires any specific or special education beyond a solid morality combined with a work ethic and an ability to learn, traits very strong within the Hareidi community. Add to that the logic and discipline mastered as a necessary byproduct of learning, understanding and interpreting Torah and related commentaries. So, the real problem is not so much forcing the Hareidi into IDF and public service as it should be making society more accommodating and acceptive to the members of the Hareidi community.

 

Perhaps what is needed most is reconciliation between the majority of Israeli society and the Hareidi community. It would be beyond unfair to expect the Hareidi community to only carry an equal obligation to serve without also providing them with an equal opportunity to be integrated into the whole of Israeli society. Full service has to go hand in hand with full integration and full opportunity. This will need to be a two way street. The rest of Israel has to learn to appreciate and understand the Hareidi dedication to Torah learning and performing mitzvah before Hashem. I would be willing to bet that the Hareidi already possess some level of understanding of Israeli society outside their communities but also that they may need to soften some of their misgivings and might be surprised that the differences between their communities and Israeli society are not as dire as initially perceived. It would be understandable if there were some misunderstandings and misgivings between the two groups but that with time and familiarization there would come some level of comfort between the two societies, after all we are all members of the same family. The one thing that Yair Lapid is going to have to come to understand is that the new arrangement he wishes to implement with such great urgency could be made far smoother and with less calamity provided patience and understanding replace urgency. On the other side, the Hareidi will need to make the effort to accept that their strict regimented rules will never be accepted or even tolerated by the most militant secularists in Israeli society if they refuse to educate them and allow for a period of adjustment and acclimation on both sides. There are going to be those among the Hareidi and among the secularists who will never interact well and will refuse any interactions. Those are the lost souls who simply should be left to go about their particular ways and excluded from having to tolerate as long as they also do not impede everybody else or impinge on any cooperation or interaction. Tolerance must be the byword and theme behind everything in this period of adjustment. Impatience and demanding that one side’s view be dominant and superior over the other side’s comfort must not be acceptable. Time, patience, understanding, sympathy and even possibly empathy are the essential requirements in finding a path which will have the best possibility of success while causing the least damage and hardship on all of Israel. Hopefully the Knesset Ministers will recognize such and for those exceptions, they must be muted before they cause damage which will be irreparable.

 

Beyond the Cusp

 

Shas Reacts Facing the Unthinkable

In the entire history of the state of Israel, Shas has been included as part of the ruling coalition ever since its inception going into elections for the eleventh Knesset without concern for the political alignment, be it right, left, Zionist or any other conceivable alignment except for the sixteenth Knesset under Prime Minister Sharon. This has made the leadership of the Shas Party begin to expect that they would be included in every government going forward as they have proven to be loyal members of coalitions led by Labor or Likud and anyone inbetween. As such, the Shas leadership now has to deal with not being included in the next ruling coalition for only the second time since their inception and they are definitely not pleased with this situation. This begs the question of whether or not any party can rightfully view themselves as indispensable to any ruling coalition and what leads the membership of Shas to have such beliefs.

 

It is actually understandable why Shas has been able to join governing coalitions without regard to most of the political considerations which affect other parties. Shas is only beholden to the Sephardic Haredi population and as such has a very narrow definition of concerns. With such a specific and narrowly defined membership, Shas can be accommodated in any governing coalition without sacrificing any of the more secular principles which often go into the formation of a coalition. Shas would appear to favor more religious Jewish values which are also considered to be at least in part the basics for Likud, Labor and most of the other Israeli Jewish political parties and as such pose no difficulties for the inclusion of Shas in a government. Simply all the major party forming a coalition need implement to have Shas as a member party is to grant them the demands for Torah worship funding including stipends for their adult students, especially those with families, so they may study full time and not need to hold employment and also give those students of Torah deferment from military or public service requirements. This had not been a problem as it had been established through the Tal Law. That came crashing down when Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch annulled the Tal Law as a parting gift when she stepped down from her position. The Tal Law was in need of replacement as the Haredi portion of the Israeli society has grown to the point where it is becoming unfeasible to continue to carry them on the backs of the rest of the country and excuse them from any responsibility solely so they are free to study Torah and only study Torah. The transition had already shown the early signs of stirrings and would have been accomplished, albeit slowly, but it was being addressed. By annulling the Tal Law the government was faced with a pressing situation which more resembled a crisis than having to address a gradual change altering perceptions over time. This made Shas the political hot potato of this election cycle and was further exacerbated by Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid Party making the immediate enlistment and end of deferrals for almost all Torah students which placed them totally at odds with Shas. This led to a predicament where only one of the two political parties would be able to join the ruling coalition if either were to be included. As Lapid reached an agreement with Naftali Bennett of the Jewish Home Party that they would join their Knesset seats together and join a coalition or the opposition as one party. This left Prime Minister Netanyahu with a choice, either include both Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid Party and Naftali Bennett’s Jewish Home Party or allow Shas to join his coalition. Apparently Shas will end up on the losing end of such a choice.

 

The resulting anger and recriminations which have emanated from the Shas membership and leadership both during the campaign and the ensuing coalition negotiations has been, shall we say, less than cordial or polite. Their vindictive rhetoric towards Yair Lapid and his party’s secular core which demanded equal sharing of the burden was predictable but their venomous outpourings at Naftali Bennett did come as a surprise to some, especially members of the Jewish Home Party. It will remain to be seen if the uncomely actions and accusations from some Shas members, particularly their newly returned leader, Aryeh Deri, have shocked many and left a rather putrid aroma over the whole coalition building scene. Their demands and appearance of feeling owed a position in the next government would affect adversely any regular party in upcoming elections. Not so Shas as their support comes from a close knit community which is obliged by their Rabbis to vote for Shas and without considerations of anything other than supporting their community at the expense of all else. This is part of why they are immune to normal influences that might cripple other parties and why they appear to garner the same portion of Knesset seats election after election. It will remain to be seen if the discipline to keep the members of Shas dependent upon their party once their insular community is no longer supported separate from the rest of Israeli society. Once they are no longer permitted universal deferment from IDF or public service it is possible that their world and societal views may change and outside influences may forever alter their previously closed society.

 

There is one item that also must be addressed if one is to be fair to the Haredi community. They have not exactly been accepted with open arms by those outside their community. Where there may be some credibility to the excuse that the Haredi have not exactly made enormous efforts to be accepted by the outside society, those outside of the Haredi community share at least an equal amount of blame for not making the Haredi accepted or make efforts to make the outside world accessible for the strictly religious. The lack of understanding has been shared by both sides of this debate and any solution is going to require sacrifices and efforts by both communities. Where the Haredi community has been portrayed by the secular media and secular society as a bunch of freaks living in a backwards and exclusive community, there has not exactly been any real efforts made to make the secular society accessible to the Haredi or to be sensitive to their culture and societal rules and standards. Much of the public discussion has been of a nature to criticize the Haredi with little effort put forth towards understanding and acceptance. The Haredi have just as much right to live according to traditional rules as the secular society has to ignore those very same rules which their ancestors no more than a few short generations ago lived by. That is the one small fact that many in the secular community ignore that they are not that far removed from the exact same societal structures and strict rules of the Haredi in their own families. Where it is true that the Haredi are going to need to join Israeli society and start to pull their fair share of the burden, it is also going to be necessary that the secular make adjustment which allows the Haredi to share the burden while not forcing them to abandon their principles and traditions. It is a two way street and neither side is going to be able to demand of the other that they forfeit their way of life and the lifestyle to which they are accustomed. If both are to share the burden, then both will also be burdened with making Israel a place which respects and accommodates both in equal amounts. The extent to which such accommodations and adjustments are made will be the measure to the tolerance and respect both societies are able to grant the other. The one truth is that the future of Israel is dependent upon a shared effort and interest in working together instead of competing for prevalence.

 

Beyond the Cusp

 

Rifts Becoming More Accentuated Between American and Israeli Jews

There have been differences between the Jews in Israel and their counterparts in the American Diaspora and these differences have been becoming more obvious making the two groups more distant. It is becoming likely that the two largest populations of Jews on planet Earth are going in diametrically opposed directions with the Jews in the United States becoming more assimilated and less religious while the Jews in Israel are moving closer to Torah observance and less concerned with whatever differences may exist between the increased importance of religious belief within Israel when compared to the trends throughout the rest of the Western World. These differences are evident in other areas which, when investigated more closely, can be traced back to the shift towards religion in Israel and the increasing separation from religion throughout the West.

 

The number of children has fallen in the West and is below replacement level through much of Europe and among other population groups within the developed world while in Israel and the developing world religion is increasingly important and their populations are growing, not shrinking. This also results in an older average population and increasingly larger segments of the population being immigrants who come from lands where custom, religion and almost every important theme in life are very different and foreign causing great friction between these two populations as they increasingly find themselves competing for control of the society and its norms. In Israel the population is increasing which relieves them of the increased strife of a burgeoning immigrant population slowly becoming the majority in the society. But what are the most evident signs of any real attitudinal differences between these two major Jewish populations which one can readily see?

 

One very easy to measure difference was made so very evident in the latest United States Presidential election where Israeli Jews supported Mitt Romney casting over 80% of their ballots for the Republican candidate while the Jews in the United States supported the reelection of President Obama with 69% of their votes. Even more telling was a race in New Jersey which pitted Orthodox Rabbi Shmuley Boteach in a race for the 9th District against a very liberal Democrat candidate, Bill Pascrell. Rabbi Shmuley Boteach lost the race by over three to one margin, 22.8% (29,214) for the Rabbi and 76.1% (97,646) for his opponent. This split between American Jews and Israeli Jews can also be found in their perceptions of politics in Israel. Where Benyamin Netanyahu is heavily favored to be reelected as the Prime Minister of Israel and the Knesset is very likely to result in not only a stronger swing to the conservative agenda but also to see a definitive increase in the religious Zionist party representation, this is trending in the opposite direction from their American counterparts who are almost unified in their liberal, progressive political tendencies. This is largely rejected by Jewish Americans who many feel revolted by Prime Minister Netanyahu and reject the conservatism and religiosity of their fellow Jews in Israel. What could possibly be driving such a disconnect between the Jews of the United States from the Jews of Israel?

 

The most significant driving factor by far is the relationship and attitudes of the two Jewish populations to Torah observance and in their feeling of a connection with G0d and feeling that this connection is an intricate and defining force in their lives. The religious sector of society in Israel has been making significant gains in numbers which was made infinitely evident with the celebrations of Daf Yomi seven-year study cycle of the Talmud which was staged in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and other places around the world early this past August and was the largest such celebration of participants in modern history. In Israel the religious Zionist political parties and the straight religious parties have both been slowly gaining numbers while the far left liberal Meretz Party has seen falling numbers in membership and representation in the Israeli Knesset. Meanwhile, in the United States the Jewish population, with the exception of the shrinking Orthodox Jews, has been increasingly turning more and more secular in their nature and intermarriage is reaching threatening levels that may lead to a more rapid vanishing of the American Jews. The religious services and traditions of both the conservative and Reform Jewish congregations have seen their services slowly contain less and less Hebrew while the amount performed in English has increased. Less American Jews keep a Kosher home or strictly observe the Sabbath admonitions and limitation and drive automobiles; turn on and off lights; use their computers, televisions, microwaves, stoves, ovens and other devices; and do not spend the day in prayer, study, and complete rest from normal daily activities. Recently in Israel a group of secularist Jews in a suburb of Tel Aviv attempted to force the permitting of public transportation to be provided on the Sabbath and ran into a massive wave of opposition and the referendum was soundly defeated. The ever widening gulf between the Jews in Israel and in the United States is evident in every aspect of life. It permeates through their lives, religious observance, politics, societal norms, and just about anything else one may choose to observe.

 

There is something which appears to be paralleling the falling away from their religious center by the Jews in the Western industrialized world, and that is an overriding concern placing Israel above all other concerns. It is as if these Jews have forgotten Yerushalayim and who would not be able to identify with the sorrow and feeling of an emptiness expressed in the “Song of Babylon” which is also known as Psalm 137. Instead, these Jews are concerned about abortion rights, homosexual marriage, assisted suicide, minorities’ rights and other leftist concerns. What is distressing is the number of liberal leaning Jews who have not only lost their love of Israel and no longer live for Jerusalem but have gone over to the opposing side and support those who claim that Zionism is a form of racism, Israel is practicing apartheid, the Jews of Israel stole the land from the Palestinians who lived in their own country peaceably before 1948, and support the BDS movement (Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions) against Israel as well as supporting the Palestinian claim to their “Right of Return” thus supporting the end of the Jewish State. There is a prediction which some believe is approaching, myself included, namely that there is fast approaching a crucial change and time of choosing for the Jews of much of the West. Things are slowly building where those who are Jewish are going to face a choice, adopt Zionism and go love in Eretz Yisroel or forget their Jewishness and adopt a secular humanist life devoid of religion in the traditional sense. Truth is that secular humanism as it is now pursued has become a religion itself. The branches of the secular humanist religion run the entire range of liberal and progressive political beliefs. The time where there are a significant number of practicing Jews outside of Israel is coming to an end and Israel will likely soon be the entirety of the future of the Jewish peoples.

 

Beyond the Cusp