Q&A: A Suggestion
A Suggestion
Question
Hello and blessings,
I don’t know whether the Rabbi follows the news, but lately Professor Yaron Zelekha has been appearing there a lot [Kan 11, Channel 14, Tov], and he’s also very active on social media and podcasts, where he lays out his economic, political, Haredi-related, etc. doctrine [at the moment mainly the economic side]. He sounds very similar to the Rabbi in terms of the clarity of his speech and his seriousness about the changes that need to be made in the country. More than that, the main thing that makes him resemble the Rabbi is that he is very matter-of-fact and impartial. Maybe the Rabbi could do a podcast with him about religion-and-state issues; it would really promote a more matter-of-fact public discourse, and maybe even a matter-of-fact political party.
Thank you.
Answer
I don’t follow him, and not by accident. I’m not an economist, but for a long time now he has seemed to me like a headline-chasing provocateur and not serious.
Discussion on Answer
We’re talking about a guy with claims that sound nice but are not based on anything at all. I suggest you see what Professor Omer Moav wrote about him.
Yaron is a troll.
I recommend listening to the episode of “Osim Heshbon” called “Who Are You, Yaron Zelekha?” (it’s also on YouTube).
There Omer Moav explains why Zelekha is a charlatan.
In addition, he also took part in an advertisement on behalf of the Histadrut, so apparently his “learned” opinion can be bought with money.
In my view, the comparison to Rabbi Michi is absurd.
I’m not one of Michi’s devotees, but I do identify honesty in his writing; with Yaron there are gimmicks and nonsense.
I listened to Yaron Zelekha.
He has Yaron’s side that comes from the head.
He has Zelekha’s side that comes from the gut.
His academic title, of course, he received thanks to Yaron (and one or two specific successes in certain positions).
Lately I’ve noticed that he’s speaking more Zelekha and less Yaron.
In one of the election rounds in which he ran and failed, he wanted people to vote for him even in the shtiblakh.
There was some organizing around him.
From the way it was organized then, it didn’t give the impression of a professional, not even close.
Rabbi, seriously? Yaron is an educated, serious person with clear and consistent positions, like the Rabbi, and that’s why I see him as someone you can rely on. Can the Rabbi compare the politicians currently in the Knesset to him?
And the fact that he’s provocative is for publicity purposes, like everyone else [including the Rabbi].