Mishloach Manos from the Rebbetzin
The “Ayelet HaShachar” organization, which is the arm of the Wolfson Foundation that focuses on raising awareness of Yiddishkeit in small towns and kibbutzim, arranged for Rebbetzins of several leading lights of the Charedi community to deliver Mishloach Manos to the bereaved mothers and widows of IDF soldiers who fell in the recent Tzuk Eitan operation in Gaza.
Among the participants:
Rebbetzin Kolodetzky (daughter of R’ Chaim Kanievsky)
Rabbanit Yosef (wife of the Rishon Letzion)
Rabbanit Yosef (wife of youngest brother R’ Moshe)
Rabbanit Lau (wife of the current Chief Rabbi)
Rebbetzin Ezrachi (wife of Rav Baruch Mordechai, Rosh Yeshiva of Ateres Yisrael)
Rebbetzin Zohar (wife of R’ Uri)
Rebbetzin Rabinowitz (wife of Rav of Kotel)
Rebbetzins of Ger, Sanz, Erloi, Slonim, Boston.
Here is Rebbetzin Kolodetzky reading her inscription to Mrs. Pomerantz, mother of Daniel Pomerantz HY”D, 21, Golani Brigade.
This project is sweet and inspiring but at the same time, I can’t help wondering what these bereaved mothers think when these charedi rebetzins show up. I worry that they may be thinking, “All this sympathy is very nice, but THEIR husbands and sons don’t go the army.” Of course after the recent murders in Har Nof and in Paris — not to mention all the terror attacks that Israel has suffered over the years — we know that just being a Jew can be dangerous, in or out of the army. I hope that these visits do give these mothers chizuk. I hope it gives them some kind of comfort to know that all of Klal Yisrael shares their pain.
Toby Bulman Katz makes a good point. One can wonder whether the work of such organizations and individuals is viewed as merely “cosmetic”. After all, there is still plenty of anti-IDF rhetoric which is ongoing emanating from both fringe and mainstream Chareidi leadership. The rhetoric is targeted against not only the institution of Tzahal, but as we have seen even against the soldiers themselves. And it seems to make no difference whether they are Nachal Chareidi, Dati Leumi, or Chiloni. To really effect a change in attitude there really needs to be consistency in deed, speech, and attitude from top to bottom and across the board. But even with that, the remaining reality is that there is a pervasive attitude of entitlement out there that all Chareidim are worthy of IDF exemptions, simply by claiming that affiliation. That dichotomy will never really sit well with mothers of secular boys and certainly with mothers of those who are learning Torah in Hesder Yeshivos.
“After all, there is still plenty of anti-IDF rhetoric which is ongoing emanating from both fringe and mainstream Chareidi leadership. The rhetoric is targeted against not only the institution of Tzahal, but as we have seen even against the soldiers themselves.” [–Dr. E.]
Maybe we run in different circles, but I have not seen this “rhetoric emanating from mainstream chareidi leadership against the soldiers themselves.”
In all the rhetoric that A directs against B and B directs against A, somewhere between 95% and 99% of the anti-anything rhetoric I have personally seen has been anti-charedi rhetoric in the media and in blog posts. A poll was recently mentioned here on C-C showing that in general, Israelis do not hate charedim, Baruch Hashem. But despite that poll, the media have been quite shrill in their denunciations of the charedi community. I never counted, but I also have the impression that of those C-C comments that can be characterized one way or another, two out of three run anti-chareidi and one out of three pro-charedi.
It’s a kind of slander to imply that charedim deserve the hatred that flows their way because “they started it.”
“In all the rhetoric that A directs against B and B directs against A, somewhere between 95% and 99% of the anti-anything rhetoric I have personally seen has been anti-charedi rhetoric in the media and in blog posts.”
How long before we see that the answer to this is because “Hareidim are not allowed on the internet, and that is why you cannot judge the rhetoric by what you see posted on blogs and the internet” .
Which if that were a legitimate response would thus mean that 100% of the rhetoric, going both way would have to be from non Hareidim, because if it is on the internet, by definition it must not be from Hareidim.
I have to admit, I didn’t anticipate the comment thread (if any) to this post going down this road.
Doron Beckerman’s response reminds me of an exchange in Seinfeld:
MICKEY: I knew that Commie stuff was going to get us in trouble.
KRAMER: Yeah, well I didn’t realize that was such a sensitive issue.
MICKEY: Communism, You didn’t realize Communism was a sensitive issue? What do you think has been going on in the world for the past 60 years? Wake up and smell the coffee.
[DB: Not sure if quoting Yiddish theatre violates C-C commenting rules.]
>> How long before we see that the answer to this is because “Hareidim are not allowed on the internet, and that is why you cannot judge the rhetoric by what you see posted on blogs and the internet” . <<
Is it your contention that if I were to read regular printed newspapers and magazines, I would see fairer, more balanced coverage of charedim? Don't make me laugh.
I do in fact read, see and hear plenty of non-charedi non-internet media. Of course once you are talking about the NY Times or NPR or CBS news on the radio, then anything to do with charedim is going to be negative, if not downright hostile. And the spokesmen quoted as sources for these negative stories will be secular Israelis.
Now some of what I read on the internet did not originally appear on the internet — articles from Ha'aretz, for example. I don't know if it matters where I read it. Hostility towards charedim is pretty constant.
I also regularly read a plethora of charedi media, e.g., Mishpacha, Ami, Yated, Hamodia, Zman. "Bashing" of IDF soldiers, or bashing of chilonim, is just not a theme of the charedi media. On the contrary, the constant theme is how can we reach out to our brothers and sisters? How can we get them to see that we care for them, and wish them well, and that we do not have fangs?
I regret expressing even a little bit of doubt about what effect "the visit of the charedi rebetzens" would have, because of course it has opened that usual ugly can of worms. Charedim can never do anything right.
Nevertheless I think that when people meet face to face they will see that there is mutual concern and caring, that all Klal Yisrael is really one. Face to face contact, /unmediated/ — literally, without media interference — is the best way for us to see each other for who we really are.
I think that's why the polls — Baruch Hashem — don't reflect the hatred expressed in the media. Most secular Israelis probably know some charedi Jews. They have charedi friends, relatives, neighbors, co-workers, and they see that we are just people, people with the usual human foibles but on the whole, nice, likeable, intelligent and warm people.
Me neither. What’s wrong with just saying, “Oh, how nice that someone thought to make this effort.” Sheesh!
Ms. Katz,
I think you need to read my comment again and remember it was said with tongue firmly in cheek.
I was paraphrasing preemptively the typical response to the observations of yours, which I too observe.
So you not think that such would be the typical response?
I have seen exactly that type of response from so called “important” “Internet rabbis”. to go along with “oh, you’re so freeeem”.
Charedi Rebbetzins mean as much to Mizrachi [DL] women as Mizrachi Rabbanits means to the Charedi women. A few of them might recognize a few of their last names, but that’s pretty much all. In any event, it would be easy to respond to a post like this with a “how nice”, as apparently the poster assumed would happen. But the hard reality, as others have said, is that it’s not so nice at all. It conveys a message, unintentional or not, that “our community doesn’t have to change, we just have to have better public-relations.”
There have been countless posts from the charedi press skewering Yair Lapid [sometimes with good reason], even though he also visits yeshivas, puts on a kippah, and says the right things. Because they look at the actions, and not the words. Don’t you think the Mizrachi world does the same thing? Sending purim baskets isn’t action – enlisting in the army is.
The reality is more complex than that. The names Kanievsky, Yosef, and Lau, along with the Hassidic courts of Ger and Sanz are not merely recognized, but revered by many. Also, the consensus in the country is that there should be exemptions for a certain elite, and these names represent that elite. Thirdly, even more than actual enlisting by Charedim (which, to convey an open secret, many are ambivalent about due to fear of Charedizing the army) the seculars want recognition and gratitude, especially from the leadership.
Interrsting and heartening that, at least for the purposes of this discussion, there is now a recognition that most hilonim do not hate haredim, unlike what had formerly been featured in haredi narrative
Quite a range of diverse comments on an act of chesed.
When performing chesed (in this case – Charedi towards DL/secular) – the action is what counts not only the response/feeling/attitude of the recipient. Chesed enhances the giver – even when they are blessed with elite last names.
I will not join the argument of rhetoric, bashing, lack of respect, posters, banter of politics, newspaper op-ed, media coverage – since there is BIAS/agenda everywhere.
“Getting to know the other” &/or establishing a connection (even superficial) is the only way to transverse the mine field. I have found that in this instance – many more non-CHAREDIM have had encounters with CHAREDIM than the other way around. Few Charedeim travel or leave thier kehillos & go to Tel Aviv, BeerSheva, Haifa, Raanana, or even Maalei Adumim ( just examples)
i wonder if the husbands of the rebbetzins could likewise commit to acts of commiseration to the other community— eg support of those who suffer attack for being different —like the’chardakim’ [the slur used for haredi chayalim], like the victims of racism in
towns like ramat beit shemesh etc. a good way to show ahavat yisrael to the Other is to condemn haters ….
[DB: I have no reason to believe that anyone on this list would not condemn attacks on these chayalim just as R’ Gershon Edelstein did, and the Ramat Beit Shemesh you’re talking about is RBS B, whose local group of fanatics considers R’ Shteinman to be Amalek.]
CVmay: While I’m not sure about Raanana, there are chareidim living in all the other cities you mentioned (yes, even Maaleh Adumim!).
R’cv may
Without comment on the specifics here, I would point out that in many chesed situations the recipients’ reaction is controlling. For example visiting an enemy who is ill or mourning where one knows the visit will have a negative result (even for a friend actually). A person is not a cheftza shel mitzva (vehicle) for someone else’s mitzvah-self improvement.
Kol tuv
SA – Baruch Hashem there are Charedim, DL, traditional & seculars throughout every crevice in Israel. That was not the point of my comment! The point is that Charedim are more insular, not big travelers, & more home-bound. So the meeting of the “other” is less likely.
“SA – Baruch Hashem there are Charedim, DL, traditional & seculars throughout every crevice in Israel. That was not the point of my comment! The point is that Charedim are more insular, not big travelers, & more home-bound. So the meeting of the “other” is less likely.”
So all the people doing kiruv in all these areas are doing so while hiding in their living rooms in Jerusalem?
i believe raanana has a haredi community, and by looking at the speakers posted at the Raanana kollel website http://www.raananakollel.org/ [ r leff, orlofsky etc] it is certainly haredi….