We were blessed with Tal HaShomayim veshemanei
ho'oretz, but we have to know what to do with them.
The economic decrees that have been leveled against the
chareidi community and the Torah world during the past years
have brought many Jews to seek ways of coping with the evil
aims of the Israeli authorities. A few weeks ago, an article
appeared in the Israeli financial periodical Globes,
in which was reported an initiative taken by a group of
independently acting chareidi Jews.
They established an organization called Pat Lechem, "A
Piece of Bread," whose purpose is to promote and direct the
protest against the economic decrees. This organization
intends to organize demonstrations involving all sectors of
Israeli society, chareidi and secular, incorporating whoever
sees himself as a casualty of the new economic steps.
In order to carry out their activities (as reported in the
abovementioned article) these chareidi Jews met with
representatives from the Israeli Left and the Kibbutz
movement—apparently in order to arouse their "socialist
sentiments" to battle against the "capitalist" aims of the
government.
It would seem that this type of activism stems from a basic
error in analyzing the underlying motivations for these
decrees. This in turn affects the means of coping with and
fighting against these evil decisions.
*
As we have already written during the past year, the
government's steps are not informed by mere "economic
considerations." They stem rather from a dearth of Jewish
feelings, an absence of mercy and compassion, and from an
entrenched and open hatred of all who learn Torah and fear
Hashem.
In these areas, all varieties of heretics and non-observers
are the same. Even if they do not all deem it fit to actively
express and openly reveal their perverted aspirations.
This government's harsh approach, lacking all human
compassion, befits its spirit and character. It was
established on an anti-Jewish platform, alienated from all
that is holy. Shortly after this wicked government rose, it
became clear that its attitude affects economic policy as
well. Much has already been written about how the authorities
found creative ways to impair matters of religion, under the
guise of "saving the economy" and "financial reforms."
The harm perpetrated to the weaker strata of society teaches
us how an anti-Jewish approach results in an utterly
insensitive outlook in general, in which "productivity"
becomes a supreme value standing above all. There is no trait
of compassion. No kindness and no charity. Whoever is
weak— let him fall.
In contrast to the extensive network of mutual help well
known among those who keep the Torah, alienation from the
difficulties of others is a phenomenon that has become an
integral part of daily life in all strata of secular society.
This holds true even of the middle and weaker strata within
themselves. It comes from a spirit of "every man for himself"
and from an undermining of a sense of mutual responsibility,
which in the past was considered a basic characteristic of
the Jewish people throughout generations.
A Torah-observant Jew studies from childhood the laws of
nezikin and momonos. He knows that "your
neighbor's property should be as precious in your eyes as is
your own." He is aware of his obligation to care for others
and to protect them from loss and damage. He is familiar with
the need to give charity and to bestow kindness on others. He
lives as does someone in whose veins flows true mutual
responsibility. This goes far beyond any illusory "social
solidarity."
That is why the chareidi community is so concerned by the
economic decrees. While the average citizen is thinking only
of his own bank account, a chareidi Jew immediately thinks
also of the difficulties that those who surround him will
undergo. He does not feel just his own pain. The automatic
reaction of each one of us is: What will the So-and-so family
do? What will be with kollel such-and-such?
This is the reason for the deep concern recognizable among
us; this is also the secret source of our strength. A
community so unified, blessed by a true "social solidarity,"
has the power to together withstand those who seek to
annihilate us. It is capable of developing a strategy for
coping, for assisting one another even in the toughest of
times.
*
All this places a question mark on the idea of enlisting
patently secular elements to join forces with the chareidi
community for a cooperative struggle—even when the
issue is socioeconomic, in which one might expect to find
some "common denominator."
Our rabbis and teachers inculcated in us that someone without
a Torah-rooted sense of responsibility for Klal
Yisroel, someone who fails to understand that the
foundation of our people's existence is the learning and
keeping of the Torah, cannot benefit Klal Yisroel even
in the material realm.
This is what provoked the bitter controversy that accompanied
the rise of the Zionist movement. There were mitzvah-
observant Jews who sought to join forces with them, claiming
that their activism was not a matter of spiritual or cultural
content, but purely a concern for the Jewish people's
material safety. They only wanted to create a "national
haven."
Those unfortunate Jews erred twice. First, our rabbis and
teachers foresaw with their crystal vision that the true goal
of Zionism was ideological: to uproot the Torah from the
Jewish people. They understood that the national issue and
the question of the Land of Israel were just means by which
to realize the true goal of creating a decadent and bereft
culture.
In addition, the Torah luminaries of the generations
instructed us that even in material matters, such people
couldn't be relied upon. For those who seek to uproot the
Torah, "This will cause also that they will not hit the
target when it comes to materially benefiting the Jewish
people. For the Jewish people and the holy Torah are one.
Keeping Torah and mitzvos is our very life and survival. We
will experience material goodness only if it is guided by
Torah and mitzvos" (from a letter of HaRav Chaim Brisker
zt'l).
*
This makes it hard to rely also on those who wave the social
flag, for whom "humanist values" are all that guide them. The
fact is that those who defend the poor and the needy are
willing to put on their agenda those economic difficulties
affecting all sectors of society—except for the
chareidi community and the Torah world. Also in this age,
when people meticulously avoid racism and eschew any
intolerant expression regarding the foreign and the
unfamiliar, we are treated as strangers and aliens: "It is
their own problem."
As a case in point, it is worth recalling that the nation
that inscribed on its flag "Equality for All," that espoused
socialism, concern for the weak, for the working class, etc,
is the same nation that oppressed Judaism most brutally of
all. And so did their followers, the Kibbutz movement and the
various workers' parties. In conjunction with their
socialist, liberal values, espousing welfare for all, they
attempted to uproot religion with all their strength.
This makes it difficult to find a basis for joining efforts
with them. Even over a specific issue and in a narrowly
defined area. Certainly not when we wish to defend ourselves
in face of a war declared against us on the basis of
animosity toward religion.
There is no common denominator, nor unifying consensus, on
the crucial points—the ones that affect the Jewish
people's very existence. Thus there is no hope either for
joint initiatives in the struggle over "a piece of bread."
