In the midst of the coalitionary negotiations to try to set up a new government in Israel, one must be reminded — at least those who occasionally forget — that we are still in golus. Being among our Jewish brethren is a difficult exile.
We are far from the latter day visions where all of mankind will acknowledge that Hashem is the A-mighty. Leaders of our past generation, surely since the chareidi representation joined the government coalition, stood firmly upon those nonnegotiable demands while straddling the lines between present and preferred issues.
The primary goal was "Yavne and its scholars." The preservation of the Torah world and concern for basic needs, prevention of interference in pure Torah education and safeguarding our full autonomy while removing all discrimination and inequity. This included continued vigil over basic Jewish values as defined in the status quo canon. This also obviously included the desire to preserve Judaism in public throughout the State of Israel.
Also included was the right to enable Jews to live according to their communal traditions even if they did not go `all the way' in observing all the facets of these traditions. Our Torah leaders sought "Jewish life without anti-religious coercion," which, sadly, exists in many places in the country.
And yet, after all of this wishful thinking, it is unwise to develop great expectations. The State does not expect to change its skin; it will remain a basically secular country and whoever thinks that when a coalition agreement is signed together with the chareidi representatives that a religious revolution will take place. We must lower our expectations for after all, we are still in golus!
