Q&A: Attitude Toward Secular Jews
Attitude Toward Secular Jews
Question
I don’t understand the claim against the Haredim that they supposedly abandoned the Jewish people, when really this already applies to the secular. We already find in II Chronicles 20:37: “Then Eliezer son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying: Because you joined with Ahaziah, the Lord has destroyed your works; and the ships were wrecked and could not sail to Tarshish.” And as Rabbenu Yonah wrote: “One who associates with a wicked person—not only does he fail to rebuke him with the rod of his mouth, and not only does he not distance him and keep far from him, but he draws him near like a dear friend. And it is said (II Chronicles 20:37): ‘Because you joined with Ahaziah, the Lord has destroyed your works.’” True, the secular are not wicked intentionally, Heaven forbid, but they do not observe Torah and commandments, and this greatly affects the religious, as we factually see in the high dropout rates. So even if the Haredim exaggerated in their separatism, still you can’t criticize them so harshly—to the point that I saw a discussion on the site about whether to include them in a prayer quorum. After all, the secular are not “those who act as members of your people.”
Answer
My claim against the Haredim is not connected to the Jewish people. If they behaved this way in Belgium, I would make the same claim against them there too, including not counting others for a prayer quorum. Besides, they did not abandon only the secular. They abandoned everyone who is not them. If they want to leave the Jewish people and set up their own army here, or live somewhere else and take care of themselves—fine, good health to them. But they abandoned the Jewish people only when it comes to their obligations, not when it comes to their rights. It does not seem to me that someone who appoints himself a minister in the government and makes decisions for the whole public sees himself as someone who wants to leave that public.
Pay attention: the explanation here is utterly simple, and ask yourself why you did not understand this on your own. It is not for nothing that my feeling is that the Haredim are so detached from common sense and so biased by their maddening agendas, that things a child in kindergarten understands they are unable to understand.
Of course I agree with the Rabbi regarding the issue of rights and obligations; that is straightforward. I am only arguing that, yes indeed, they and the rest of the religious should completely disconnect from anyone who is not religious. I’m not necessarily saying not to serve in the army, but I am saying it should be done in a way that does not create any connection that is not technical or necessary for the fighting, for example. I am arguing that this relationship must not be more than technical cooperation, like between states or business companies. So either we live without any rights at all, or we share in the obligations only on a technical level but without being more connected than that, or we move abroad—which of course would have to be weighed to see whether it is worth it.