Like many others, I was astonished to see a photocopy of an article written by Natan Slifkin and
recently published in The Jerusalem Post which demonstrated the
extent of the distortions constantly promoted on the fringes of the
camp, in the form of "new chareidim," of various kinds.
The article was written by Natan Slifkin, whose books were banned by
gedolei Yisroel in Eretz Hakodesh and the United States. The
gedolim spoke out firmly against the publication of his books,
which stood in stark contrast to the fundamentals of Jewish faith. As
a result he published his op-ed piece under the headline, "The Making
of Post-Haredism," because as a result of what happened he decided to
drop out of the chareidi world, defining himself in the article as
"post-haredi"! Rachmono litzlan.
There is no need to quote all his shallow remarks about
"dissatisfaction with the narrow boundaries of haredi thought," and
the like. However from our standpoint it is worthwhile to pay close
attention to the conclusion of his article, where he voices his
approval of various developments on the fringes of the chareidi world,
saying "the haredi world itself is undergoing a process of reversal
from its previous excesses."
To support this claim, Slifkin cites the increasing number of
chareidim entering the work force and military service, and the
intensive use of "chareidi websites," as well as "weekly magazines
such as Mishpacha [that] feature positive profiles of non-
haredi figures and delicately air a variety of criticisms of haredi
policies, despite the shrill protests of `establishment' publications
such as Yated Ne'eman."
I think these remarks once again point to the foresight and wisdom of
gedolei Yisroel shlita, who declared a milchemes mitzvah
against the various weeklies. Here we see the "post-chareidim" —
whose specialty is undermining the fundamentals of emunoh
— sing the praises of the "new chareidim" for systematically
gnawing away at the fundamental principles of the chareidi sector and
applaud these weeklies and encourage them to continue to pave the way
for foreign worldviews to work their way in. Can anyone continue to
put his head in the sand and not take note of the danger?
The matter should not be taken lightly, for this is how the
Enlightenment Movement was able to wreak havoc in the Jewish people,
because some people failed to immediately discern the danger they
posed (especially since many wore yarmulkes, spoke in the lexicon of
Chazal and adopted a chareidi style).
I write these lines as one who is part of a group of avreichim
whose goal is to raise awareness of this issue and battle against
these threats, and be'eizer Hashem we're seeing that the
general public is accepting and internalizing the message.
Every one of us has an obligation to encourage his acquaintances and
to persuade those he is in contact with that the weeklies should be
carefully avoided — bal yeiro'eh ubal yimotzei —
and all the more so must we denounce those who cooperate with them by
providing them with information or backing and help in distributing
copies, etc. As gedolei Yisroel shlita have stated, we
may not assist them and anyone who cooperates with them in any manner
lends a hand to transgressors (mesayei'a le'ovrei aveiroh).
