The Third Path and the Haredim
Hello Rabbi Michael,
Recently, I was exposed to the Third Path movement a little (mainly through articles for Shabbat leaflets), and from what I saw there, you do try to appeal to the Haredi public by criticizing the conduct of the business there and calling for fundamental change.
Although I don’t really understand where you’re going with this. The Haredim have built a kind of ideological ghetto around themselves that I don’t really see how it can be broken through. The young age is irrelevant because they follow their own frameworks and their parents’, the small yeshiva is also less relevant because the young men there are not as exposed to the media and mainly cluster around the yeshiva and its framework, and the Haredi young man who has already grown up receives a match (following the yeshiva he went to) and is already going to study in a kollel – and there, even if he is exposed to your content and even agrees to it, he probably won’t jeopardize all the frameworks he is in (the children’s Torah studies, the kollel he studies in, etc.) and follow in your footsteps.
So I don’t really understand who you’re addressing? Even now that the Third Path has issued a statement to the Haredi public to follow the instructions against the alarms, who exactly are you addressing it to?
The way I see it, only the creation of alternative frameworks can somehow bring about some kind of change (like the institutions that Rabbi David Leibel is establishing), but it doesn’t seem or sound like this is the direction you intend to go.
And if you say that you are applying pressure from the outside that might seep inside – that doesn’t seem so practical either. In Haredi language, any criticism is perceived as an attack and defiance (in a childish way, of course) and they don’t really examine their behavior in light of these criticisms.
So to my question, do you really have a work plan for how to create effective change in Haredi society and are you aware of the problems I mentioned? Or are you simply trying to resonate with the public with your messages, even though they will probably not succeed in penetrating the wall of Haredi ideology.
Discover more from הרב מיכאל אברהם
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Discover more from הרב מיכאל אברהם
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
It is easier to change the Ayatollah regime in Europe than you will be able to change the bearers of the Torah flag. There was one like that during the time of the Chofetz Chaim who established such a liberal yeshiva in the Radin area. The Chofetz Chaim said at the time that it is permissible to desecrate the Sabbath in order to save a young man from there. And what came out of this yeshiva? You know? The Mizrahi and its offshoots, a significant part of whom today has recognized their mistakes and is trying to return to their origins, and some have become secular reformists to the point of Kaplanism, whose fate will be the same as the fate of those parts of the Jewish people that we lost with all the pain that comes with it.
Things on the ground are not black and white, and I suppose every Haredi person has their own opinions and not everyone has the same opinion, but still, even if someone thinks that there is something that should be done, such as conscription into the army, and the prevailing opinion on the street is that at least those who do not study in yeshivahs should be conscripted - still no one will do anything. No one has come out against the rabbis, the "greatest of the generation", no one has risked going against the consensus (written by the activists) when he himself has nothing waiting for him outside, and he lacks the education and tools to live an individual life disconnected from his community.
So it doesn't matter what claims and ideologies he agrees with when they are presented to him, in practice no one will really do anything about it.
What does it mean to be a member or part of this movement, and what does it involve?
And are there, or will there be, opportunities for people around the world (England specifically) to join?
All observant Jews from around the world are invited. Join via WhatsApp (you can see on the Facebook page or website)
Leave a Reply
Please login or Register to submit your answer
