Rabbonim and educators have warned against certain weeklies
in Israel that have a reputation for disseminating tainted
worldviews and have been eating away at the Torah world.
Recently government authorities, with massive assistance from
the media, have been trying to strike out at the Torah world
by altering the chareidi way of life and attacking Torah-
based education. This aggressive campaign aims its poison
arrows at the alleged parasitism and non-productivity of the
Torah world and the so-called "surplus" avreichim
learning in kollelim.
Unfortunately these hostile elements, which maranan
verabonon stated in a letter of protest against the
current government seek only to diminish the number of
lomdei Torah, have been encouraging other fringe
members of the chareidi camp to join in issuing hostile
remarks against avreichim and bnei Torah
families, thereby aiding and abetting the uprooters of
religious in their quest to bring gradual change to the
entire way of life in the Torah world, chas
vesholom.
The editor of one of these so-called newspapers,
Bakehilloh, employs a shocking style and has even made
his views known to the secular media. Several months ago he
told the secular press he was pleased with the government's
cruel cuts, saying "transfer payments under the existing
formula greatly diminished among us the awareness of the need
to go to work, and in doing so corrupted chareidi society. We
must realize that what will sustain us as a chareidi society
is subsistence. A weak and impoverished society cannot
successfully cope with developed Western society. The blow
Netanyahu landed upon us has shown us the party is over and
the time has come to begin looking for work, despite
resistance in conservative circles that refuses to part from
the point of view chareidi society is a society of
lomdim . . . "
Marbitzei Torah and educators at Torah-based
institutions expressed deep shock at the renewed attempts to
harm the foundations of the Torah world built by maranan
verabonon, zt"l and ylct"a by raising "proposals"
to reduce the number of lomdei Torah and to "thin out"
the number of avreichim, echoing ideas expounded by
haters of religion in recent years. They warned that such
remarks should be viewed in a very grave light, for they
constitute aiding and abetting the enemies of Torah, whose
decrees are only intended to undermine the Torah public from
within and to force secular attitudes upon it in order to
thwart the Torah world's burgeoning.
Chareidi public figures pointed out that these remarks
represent acts of disloyalty that assist our enemies and
encourage them to continue in their evil ways. "These fringe
figures, who operate as a fifth column and seek to ingratiate
themselves before the secular media people," said one
observer, "present themselves to the secular media as
`progressive chareidim' who `want to integrate with the
developed Western society,' and toward that end they voice
opposition to the opinions of our rabbonim, gedolei
Yisroel shlita, and express derision for the Torah world
while defining themselves as the antithesis of `conservative
circles' and `the society of lomdim' -- who are really
the source of our pride."
Roshei yeshivos and roshei kollelim asked to
remind readers that gedolei Yisroel, headed by Maran
HaRav Yosef Sholom Eliashiv, have been issuing calls to
reinforce our awareness of the obligation to bolster
heichalei haTorah in response to all of the
government's destructive schemes. They also said the audacity
of the pen pushers and weeklies that place themselves above
gedolei Yisroel and declare that the Torah world has
to be "reorganized" should be protested vehemently. These
journalists act with unprecedented brazenness, demonstrating
the danger that lies in reading these newspapers.
Chareidi education institutions have long been warning about
the negative effect of these weeklies, which are not overseen
by maranan verabonon. "These newspapers, which
represent `chareidi pluralism,' impart undesirable messages
both on the news pages and in the features," said one
educator. "Even the `life stories,' which may appear
innocuous, convey the writers' personal opinions between the
lines." Chareidi educators said they often encounter
difficult cases of talmidim who suffered irreparable
damage despite all their parents and teachers invested in
their education.
Heads of chareidi educational institutes said that just as
none of our talmidim or talmidos would consider
reading the secular press, chas vesholom, neither
should they allow themselves to be influenced by these
weeklies that enter good homes by presented themselves as
"chareidi" publications.
