President Weizman asked the chareidi organizers to postpone the rally
to "avoid bloodshed." The only thing about the upcoming rally
that they discussed in the media was its potential for violence.
Instead, it was no more -- and no less than -- an atzeres
tefilla like so many others. It was an afternoon of Tehillim
and selichos like those that take place often in Meah Shearim
or Zichron Moshe -- or in Brooklyn or Antwerp or London or Melbourne.
Jews came to beseech Hashem to help them as they have been doing all
over -- and for thousands of years through thick and thin; in good
times and especially in bad: in Mir and in Vilna; in Frankfurt and
in Fez; in Sura and in Pumbadisa -- and of course in Yerushalayim.
It is a response to adversity that is quintessentially Jewish: "the
voice of Yaakov," "the trade of our forefathers" (see
Medrash Tanchuma on Parshas Beshalach, 9). "We
[just] refer to the name of Hashem" (Tehillim 20).
We came to pray, and pray we did. Instead of the company of hundreds
that we are used to, there were hundreds of thousands, but the experience
on the streets of Yerushalayim the Holy City was that blend of community
participation and private experience that makes up tefilla betzibbur
and that is so much a part of traditional Jewish experience on a daily
basis -- yet is so alien and far from the Western life experience
that is all many secular Israelis know.
The secular press was full of discussions of the possibility
of violence at the large chareidi gathering in the days leading up
to it -- but that is only an indication of how little they understand
this oh-so-Jewish expression. This is precisely the behavior that
they used to deride as "galuti" -- passive and
accepting of the decree of Heaven, sufficing with beseeching for mercy
-- when it was still familiar enough to them that they understood
it for what it is.
There were no egos and no grandstanding. Many great rabbonim
just came to pray and were in the street with everyone else. No politicians
spoke. Are the chareidi politicians upset at the missed opportunity
to make political hay? How can anyone feel jealousy or seek an ego
boost from the crowd when it is so clear to all that all eyes are
Heavenward? The primary interaction was most definitely not between
the massive crowd and the dais, but between each individual and his
or her Father and King.
To be sure, there are real issues. Democracy in Israel, which
we fully support as the apparently best system for our times, is seriously
threatened by the "imperialistic approach of our judicial system"
(Amnon Dankner in Ha'aretz, January 7, 1996). This is an issue
that has been raised many times before, with regard to the principles
followed by the current court, and with regard to the way they are
applied by the reigning judges. "The judges of the High Court
represent an Israeli subculture: male, Ashkenazi and secular. It is
not clear why Israeli society should live according to their dictates"
(Professor Ruth Gavison, former president of the Israel Civil Liberties
Union, Yediot Acharonot, November 21, 1995).
Our spokesmen tried to raise it in the days leading up to the
atzeres, when they had the ear of the media, but the only
response was a report of the number of bodyguards assigned to each
judge and for how long they are expected to be deployed.
Manof compiled a list of 19 recent decisions of the High Court in
the last six months (including 12 in December alone) and in only one
of these could the result be described as "neutral." In 18
of 19, the High Court found against the religious side of the case.
Our response: Ovinu Malkeinu, kera ro'a gezar dineinu!
