Recently a debate on a highly original question has been
hashed out on the pages of national-religious newspaper,
Hatzofe: With whom does religious Zionism share a
greater common language and who should it favor: the secular
sector or the chareidi sector?
On Tisha B'Av Hatzofe published an article by Hillel
Appelbaum, who singularly declared that he feels a greater
affinity toward people from the national-religious sector who
abandoned Torah and mitzvos than toward those who chose to
join the chareidi camp. Writes Appelbaum: "I once wrote an
article in which I asked why our attitude toward our children
who join the secular culture is better than our attitude
towards our children who join the chareidi culture. The truth
is that I have yet to find an answer to this question. But
over the years a number of things have become clear to me.
Perhaps I should lay everything out on the table. There is no
way to establish a state -- or even a city -- with the
chareidim."
Although secular Zionism, he writes, is not an ideal partner
with whom to set up the Jewish state since Torah does not
light their way, "but still, at least with secular Zionism it
is possible to establish a State." He tries to emphasize that
"there is some similarity between the concepts of religious
Zionism and modern Zionism. Zionism means a state, and a state
means progress and development. It would be inconceivable to
imagine a state based on limiting general education."
The article stirred almost no reaction. It seems that
unfortunately many of the newspaper's readers identify with
this distorted view. The only person to write an appropriate
response was Yehoshua Kampinsky, principal of the religious
high school seminary in Ramat Gan. He begins by writing that
the opening of coffeehouses in various cities on Tisha B'av
was a clear sign of the general public's indifference to the
Destruction of the Temple.
"This phenomenon serves as an indication of the great
fragmentation taking place in education here in our renewed
state. Along with mourning for the Destruction of the Temple,
perhaps we should also mourn the destruction of our youth, who
have been raised in the land of the Jews and yet are the
victims of Western assimilation, which makes its way into
every home via modern communication devices. Every boy and
girl who is not raised on the culture of the past has no
chance for a Jewish future and for the continuation of Jewish
culture. On Tisha B'Av itself Hillel Appelbaum, in the
newspaper of religious Zionism, wrote that as far as he is
concerned, `secular culture' is better than `base chareidi
culture' (as he puts it).
Which secular culture does Appelbaum want to be a part of: the
culture that scorns kodshei Yisrael and the
historical?
Kampinsky stresses that "with all of the criticism and the
differences separating the chareidim from religious Zionism,
it should be clear that a religious person's foremost
connection is with those who are tied to Torah and mitzvos and
with those who use the Shulchan Aruch to light the way.
The attitude toward a son who joins secular culture should
resemble the attitude towards a `wayward son,' while the
attitude towards a son who joins the chareidi camp should
resemble the attitude toward a son who keeps Torah and
mitzvot, but whose attitude toward the State and toward
science is different.
"A chareidi is not a `wayward son.' He is tied to the past, we
pray with him, eat in his home, live with him. Anyone who is
involved in education based on the tenets of religious Zionism
must make this clear to all of his or her students."
He goes on to quote the words of religious Zionism's leading
figure, Rav A. Y. Kook zt'l, who wrote "With all my
heart and soul I feel a great love for all creatures, and a
greater love for humanity, and a greater love for bnei
Yisroel, a slightly more sacred love for yir'ei
Hashem and even more for talmidei chachomin." The
writer lets the words speak for themselves, and does not
explicate the painful conclusion: several of his leader's
talmidei chochomim turned their rebbe's words around,
choosing to love porkei ol and to despise talmidei
chochomim.
