Opinion & Comment
Thwarted Expectations
by Rabbi Nosson Zev Grossman

The ultra-liberal approach of Israel's High Court for Justice that tries its utmost to promote the beliefs of the militant Leftists has upset the apple cart. Their rulings have undermined the axioms on which the country functioned and has created chaos in religious matters. The government itself is powerless when faced with the activist judicial approach of Aharon Barak, Israel's Chief Justice of the High Court, and his colleagues.

It maybe that the Right understands that if the High Court's dictatorship is ended their own political future will later be harmed by those judges who represent a political minority close to the extreme Left Meretz Party. Those running the government, however, lack the courage to go out to the public and clearly tell them the truth: that the ever-widening power of the High Court must be curbed and their authority strictly limited by legislation.

Now that we are at the end of the tenure of Binyamin Netanyahu all that is left for us to do is to calmly weigh up what has happened in the last years. Unfortunately, this analysis will not lift our spirits.

This was the first time in Israel that a prime minister was directly elected by the people. The chareidim, guided by the gedolei Torah, openly supported Netanyahu, and the small difference in votes between Peres and Netanyahu unequivocally clarified to the Likud that without the Torah- true they would have been an opposition party. The National Religious and chareidi parties tipped the scales in favor of Netanyahu and were the essential basis for a stable government. Many Torah-loyal Jews honestly thought that because of their support, the coalition agreements would improve in areas of religious concern or at least prevent any deterioration.

But, as mentioned, the expectations were disappointed. During the years that Netanyahu was in office we witnessed a continual erosion in all religious matters. Reform and Conservative "conversions" were awarded official recognition and representatives of these heretic "streams" have a foothold in the local Religious Councils. The fifty-year-old arrangement for the deferral of yeshiva students has been endangered and may become illegal within a year. Meanwhile it has become much more difficult to apply for such deferrals. Now, the basic assumption by the Defense Department is that those who study Torah are liars and swindlers. They are immediately suspected of being fakers and must prove their innocence in ways unheard of in any other area.

Any appointment of a chareidi to a governmental position of any importance is faced with countless difficulties of every description. All legislation concerning religious matters brings in its wake no end of legal appeals. The Attorney General does not remain idle either and constantly searches for irregularities in the government's allocations for Torah institutions.

The blame is not only with the hostile legal system. The heads of the government too, those who sit in their plush offices thanks to chareidi support, act with indifference and as if helpless about religious affairs. They try to bury their heads in the sand and dodge their obligations and "postpone" bothersome problems through ludicrous "solutions" (such as the Ne'eman Committee) while this passage of time allows the anti- religious to speed up legal processes so that we are forced to accept the success of their schemes as established facts.

Nonetheless, we must clearly declare that all the above does not show that we regret the decision to support the present government and vote for the incumbent Prime Minister. Since the decision of Maranan Verabonon shlita was not based on an expectation of gains, there is no reason to question this decision because of lack of gains. The support for the Rightist block was only because we recognized that the only alternative is much worse. Our Torah leaders felt the necessity to prevent the heretic Left and spiteful anti- religious groups from gaining power. Those elements would have made efforts of their own to destroy religion and would have saved the judges of the High Court the bother.

All the same, this again does not minimize our sharp criticism for the present government that has acted with ingratitude when it "forgot" who put it in power and preferred to demonstrate indifference. They appeased anti- religious elements, avoided real solutions, and instead created "compromises" that only lead to future complications.

The disappointment that has spread throughout the chareidi and NRP populace during Netanyahu's tenure and especially because of what has happened in the last few months will not be forgotten so quickly. We descended "from a high roof to a deep pit" (Chagigah 5b) -- from a euphoric feeling of victory and astounding success to bitterness and empty-handedness. Not only have all our "baskets" full of "gains" been almost entirely emptied out and fundamental matters are in grave danger, also the general hostile atmosphere against religious people has been aggravated. Torah-observant Jews feel they are looked upon with hostility, scorn, and hatred. These feelings are systematically being molded by anti-religious politicians and the media they control.

Many ask: Why do we deserve this? OK, we have not gained anything, but why should we lose?

Explanations based upon logical reasons can surely be found. Political commentators have already discussed this at length. The infamous anti-religious motivation of the Leftists and the legal system has intensified because of their desire to embarrass the present government. They want the coalition partners to quarrel among themselves and also to "teach" the NRP and chareidim a lesson for not allowing the Leftists to run the country.

In addition, the opinion of Netanyahu and his colleagues that the Torah-observant vote is "in their pocket" contributed to their approach and arrogance. We have come to our senses, although a little too late, and understand that the Prime Minister is ready to fulfill his obligations and protect his coalition partners only when faced with an unequivocal threat -- when his back is to the wall and he has no other choice.

But as Jews who have been raised with the clear realization that nothing happens without Heavenly intervention we cannot remain satisfied with only a political analysis. If we are now confronted with an anti-religious campaign, an attempt to uproot whatever possible of the Torah, if frum Jews encounter a wave of animosity that is liable to have grave results, we must contemplate the reasons why this has happened to us. Why was this decreed upon us by Heaven? Referring to such a calamity the Rambam writes in Hilchos Taanis that it is necessary for a person to reflect deeply and consider how he has been acting until now.

We generally do not look for explanations for the hatred of those ignorant of Torah towards those who ardently observe it, just as we do not search for reasons why non-Jews hate Jews. Both situations are governed by a halocho and are not dependent upon any rationalizations.

However, when such hatred increases we are obligated to look for explanations. We are not interested in a political or pragmatic explanation; we want a true explanation that will answer the burning question of why have we been punished by Heaven in such a way? We do not, of course, pretend to know the ways of Heaven, but this does not prevent us from trying to propose an explanation that the gedolei Torah have already pointed out.

I must admit that when we read the parshiyos in Shemos and studied the Beis HaLevi that explains how the Egyptian kingdom cleverly carried out a campaign to incite the rank-and-file Egyptian hatred of the Jews, I could not help making the comparison.

"And [the king of Egypt] said to his people . . . come let us deal wisely with them . . .." (Shemos 1:9). "When Pharaoh first thought to harm the Jews he understood that it was totally disgraceful to harm them without any reason. He slyly mentioned to the ministers, the kingdom's advisors, the wickedness of bnei Yisroel. He told them that the Jews are of inferior character and can be trusted neither in matters pertaining to the country nor in particular to the Egyptians themselves. Pharaoh said, `Behold the people of the children of Yisroel are more and mightier than we.' `Mightier' refers to having possessions and wealth and is similar to, `And Avimelech said to Yitzchok, Go from us for you are much mightier than we' (Bereishis 26:16). The Egyptian king told them that the Jew's wealth comes from them, from the Egyptians, since the Jews robbed and stole from the Egyptians and when they lent them money they took interest from them and the such. Therefore `come let us deal wisely with them lest they multiply and it come to pass that when any war should chance they also join our enemies and fight against us.' Their heart is not loyal to the country and they oppose the country in general. Similarly I saw commentaries that explained what the Haggodo Shel Pesach writes, `they did bad to us,' as meaning they told others that we are bad."

In parshas Shemos, a few lines earlier, the Beis Halevi explains why the hatred for Yisroel revived itself during that generation. He quotes the Midrash that bnei Yisroel did certain things to look like the Egyptians. He emphasizes that although it was not forbidden, coming nearer to the Egyptians itself caused them to hate them. The Midrash writes that "HaKodosh Boruch Hu turned the love that the Egyptians had for them to hatred."

"Indeed although the act itself was not forbidden, since there would not be any noticeable difference between them, bnei Yisroel were liable to eventually mix among the Egyptians and sink to their tumah. This is actually the opposite of the main intent of the mitzvah that Yisroel be separated from the Egyptians . . . If Yisroel would, cholila, have come closer to them, HaKodosh Boruch Hu would renew the difference between them by renewing the hatred in their hearts. All this was for Yisroel's benefit so that they would not mix with them. For this reason, after Yisroel concealed the difference HaKodosh Boruch Hu had made between them and the Egyptians and wanted to come closer to them, Hashem separated bnei Yisroel by both renewing and adding a hatred in the Egyptian's heart. `They were mortified on account of the children of Yisroel,' whose plain meaning is that Yisroel was so disgusted by the Egyptians that when an Egyptian saw a Jew he would be disgusted as when seeing something repugnant. HaKodosh Boruch Hu sent a hatred for Yisroel, that bnei Yisroel would be sickening [for the Egyptians], so that they would not assimilate among them. This was not considered a punishment since they did not sin and they did not deserve any punishment. It was only a way of protecting bnei Yisroel so they would not mix with them, and was thoroughly for their benefit."

The jubilation that swept over the Torah- observant after the elections and following the gains, benefits, and removal of discrimination promised by the coalition negotiations, caused something of a change in our relation to the government that is after all estranged from Torah.

We must at this point clarify that we are not referring to participating in the elections themselves and taking part in the government, but to undesirable feelings apt to accompany our not thinking deeply enough when doing so. Participation in the elections and in the government itself, and the attempt to prevent unfairness and bring benefit to the Torah- loyal, was done according to the ruling of the gedolei Torah veyirah. They ruled that it is not only permitted but we are obliged to use these means because of the unfortunate reality that has been forced upon us ever since the State was established. The only question is what should our attitude to all this be, how should we consider those "gains" we have been granted and what stands behind them.

It is possible to participate in the Knesset, in the coalition and even in the governmental institutions (according to the specific rulings of the gedolei Yisroel) but all this political activity should be done while feeling we are "negotiating with robbers," as they have been defined in the past. This is the outlook that we should adopt when engaging in political activities.

The current representatives are only those who are continuing the tradition of shtadlonim who tried to influence the governments in Europe. The "benefits" that we receive are not conveyed to us because they love us but only because of coalition needs, and perhaps so that they can show the Western World how democratic they are.

The argument that we want "equal rights" should be used only as a means of explaining to others our needs, so that we can bewilder political figureheads who claim they support democracy. We should, however, not for even one moment make the mistake of thinking that if at any time our elementary demands will materialize it will be because they have really decided that we deserve equality. On the contrary, as far as they are concerned, even the air we breath is given to us as a present, something we do not rightfully deserve.

Those who founded a secular state for the aim of starting a "New Judaism" and, chas vesholom, annulling the Torah, are entirely unable to picture the Torah-observant as having any right to exist. Someone who wants to traditional Judaism in a museum, and to protect a few remnants only as a "historical testimony" showing what was once upon a time the Jewish Nation, is naturally not interested in further developing the Torah World, whose very existence and presence threatens the ideology of those who want a heretical state.

Perhaps this is our sin. We truly believed what those secular politicians told us when they said that they want to grant us equal rights. We thought they were serious about it and not that they were saying so only to establish a coalition government. We were mistaken when we thought that others recognize our right to exist, and that perhaps at last the Zionist country, which has been innately hostile to us ever since it was founded, has changed.

Heaven therefore has shown us point blank the painful truth. The current wave of animosity is teaching us that we are still living in golus among other Jews. If we did not understand ourselves that the government -- made up of those who have thrown off the yoke of Torah -- will not accept our demands because of their appreciation of them or recognition of the truth, but because of lack of choice and political necessity, governmental indifference and the legal system's hostility toward us has reminded us where we are living. For someone who for a moment was too credulous and forgot that we are in the midst of a negotiation with robbers who, should they allow us to remain alive and leave us enough to live on, are still robbers, they have now come and proved this most clearly to us.

Maran the Brisker Rav ztvk'l used to tell those who thought that the time will come when the government will honestly agree with our demands, what he heard from Maran the Chofetz Chaim ztvk'l:

Yaakov Ovinu offered Lovon logical explanations as to why he ran away from him. Yaakov clarified to him how he had labored with uncommon devotion in guarding Lovon's sheep and despite this Lovon had tried to deceive him time after time. What was Lovon's unresponsive answer: "These daughters are my daughters and these children are my children and these cattle are my cattle and all that you see is mine" (Bereishis 31:43). Although Yaakov justified why he had run away and how he had acquired the sheep with cold logic, Lovon did not even recognize Yaakov's right to live. This is similar to what the Klausenberger Rebbe ztvk'l had declared in his first years in Eretz Yisroel: "You have demands? I was sure that when I would get off the plane they would confiscate my tefillin!"

Our representatives must continue their work and use all possible arguments, but these arguments should not disrupt or pervert their true outlook.

For all those who believe and cling to Zionist ideology we are considered superfluous people who disrupt the creation a new nation. Perhaps they will throw us a bit of "fair treatment" and an outward appearance of "equal rights," but in their hearts they will continue to grumble, and point to the air we breath and say: "All that you see is mine."