Guest Podcast
Living in Israel as an Anglo-charedi has been a dilemma for many. On the one hand, we can understand the need to preserve halachic standards, and the history of broken commitments by the government. On the other hand, we are painfully aware of how much damage has been done by positions that have shown disregard for the needs and sensitivities of the rest of the country. To hear more, check out the discussion between my good friend Rabbi Avraham Kivelevitz on his podcast, appropriately titled “Dangerous Insularity-The Charedi Hardline has Created a Burden Unbearable.”
For almost two weeks my Eshes Chayil and I took a special birthday trip to Israel . We toured and saw what Hamas attempted to do in the Gaza Envelope the Temple Tunnels a more Torah friendly Yad VaShem The National Library where avreichim research Kisvei Yad Yehudah v Shomron and a packed Rova and Shul in Yerushalyim We saw old friends and spent Shabbos with them and rode the packed Light Rail and saw tremendous Chesed ranging from policemen helping us a change a flat on a tour bus to two residents of a moshav pulling a tour bus out of mud to R&R for Chayalim whose quiet determination can only be contrasted to their contemporaries in the US There is a great sense of quiet Achdus on the streets and I davened at shuls ranging from Zicron Moshe to R Z shuls all of which were marked by serious kavanah to Tefilah Rabnosai do t wait for a mission -if you can go come here and see all of the evidence on the ground that connects Am Yisrael to Eretz Yisrael that you have learned about in Tanach and Shas
The questions are better than the answers. The idea that ‘we are not the chazon ish’ is not tenable and does not hold water. Yiftach bedoro kishmuel bedoro. No generation can make progress on any issue if they are just paralysed by an inferiority complex. Does it take courage? Of course, but there’s no option. A great leader is defined by what he does, not by what he does not do. I long ago became dissolutioned with the charedi world whilst maintaining respect for its devotion to limmud haTorah. To remain viable it must adapt to the needs of the generation and recognise it cannot continue to behave like a persecuted minority
“Broken Commitments” – Sounds like they just started a brand new unit designed specifically for Chareidim so I would say the gov’t deserves praise for bending over backwards to accommodate. Somehow the Hesder guys survived without special accommodations.