Harediism – Between Religion and Worship
Peace and blessings,
How can one distinguish within the framework of Harediism between observing a mitzvah for religious reasons and observing a mitzvah for purely ritual reasons, for example, traveling to the Rebbe for Rosh Hashanah prayers while putting the public at risk from the coronavirus? On the one hand, apparently, praying near the Rebbe is a mitzvah according to their system, but on the other hand, it is a major offense under the conditions of the coronavirus. Should the mitzvah be treated as a ritual rather than a religious mitzvah in every case in which observing a mitzvah is accompanied by an offense?
Kind regards, Benjamin
I debated whether to delete it again, and decided to answer anyway, because despite the biased wording and the repeated anti-Haredi obsession, there is a real question here.
People are complex creatures. Quite a few Jews are unwilling to eat on Yok, even if their medical condition requires it. Sometimes it’s just ignorance, or “ritual” as you say, but sometimes there is a religious feeling that does not adhere to the mandatory rules. Sometimes it’s a lack of trust in the doctors’ assessment (justified or not, the heart knows its bitterness), and therefore an unwillingness to violate Yok because of their instruction. This is also the case with Didan. There is a great lack of trust in the instructions received here, and a large part of it is completely justified. (That’s why I also disagree with your definition that violating the instructions is a major offense against the Jewish People. I definitely think there is no escape and that the instructions must be obeyed, but this lack of trust has a solid basis.) Beyond that, there is the religious feeling, which I also don’t understand and am not familiar with, but it seems authentic to me.
So even if it’s about our bitter enemies, the freedmen, it’s understandable that this isn’t necessarily and isn’t always just evil and stupid nonsense.
By the way, my words in response to you are no less relevant to your question. As I wrote to you, I did not delete it because I assessed that despite the tendency underlying it, it is not necessarily just a question of "cult", that is, just an empty statement of the obsession and persecution of Haredim that is so prevalent among you, but perhaps there is also a real question here (although of course it does not concern only Haredim).
I visited a synagogue on Rosh Hashanah that held over ten thousand worshippers, without any partitions or masks.
Beyond all the various claims about what is more important than what and what overrides what, it seems to me that there is an important aspect here:
The observance of the law has never been a particularly important value in Haredi society, but this case is a precedent.
This is not a violation of individuals, but a violation of Haredi society as a whole.
For the first time, thousands of Haredim (mainly Hasidim) gathered together knowingly and together criticized the law. They sat together in a situation where it was clear to them that the law said one thing, and as a community they drew a line.
At the end of the holiday, they left the synagogues and returned home, lying to the police about the roads on their way to a demonstration. This is an official and orderly organization against the rules of the state.
Without going into whether this is right or wrong, whether the laws are just or discriminatory, in my opinion this is a serious problem, and both sides should have avoided it.
Even if the Haredim don't care about the state, the state should care about the citizens, and not reach a situation where it enacts a law and the public laughs at it to its face.
The result of the consciousness that has been enshrined in the hearts of the citizens constitutes a serious problem that the state should address.
I completely agree with that. I just don't think it's the "first time." They're whining about the Compulsory Education Law and the Compulsory Conscription Law. There are various scams there too, and it's done institutionally. As we know, the state doesn't start with the Haredim, and in fact, almost never with any public that is decisive enough.
If there were no protest permits, this wouldn't have happened. Not just because the hoarding wouldn't have worked (they would have found something else or just whined). But because of the lack of trust that these selective permits create.
“Religious emotion that does not adhere to the binding rules” – The rabbi means, among other things, a religious emotion from the “habit” expressed, for example, in praying in the Rosh Hashana minyan under the conditions of “Corona” incubation.
This is apparently a familiar psychological phenomenon, “compulsion”, where does religious emotion find its place within the complex?
To my understanding, the commandments delimit the ”habits”, when the conditions change, the manner of fulfilling the commandments will change, and if the conditions change, the manner of fulfilling the commandments does not change, is this evidence that we are dealing with worship and not religion?
I think that once a precise definition is given, it will be easier for those who suffer to examine their actions in a matter-of-fact manner.
Despite my closeness to your words, I disagree with the extreme wording you gave them. Halacha is not a set of rigid rules and there is room for personal judgment. Not everything like this is compulsion. As I wrote above, if that were truly the case, there would be no point in me answering your questions (since they are not questions but the product of anti-Haredi compulsion).
Leave a Reply
Please login or Register to submit your answer
