Q&A: Haredim as a Sentiment
Haredim as a Sentiment
Question
A. How is it that the general public contains and accepts the Haredim? Is it an intense sentiment for traditions and for the older generations? (See, for example, the words of Kobi Arieli that you quoted in the column. Not long ago I saw someone write: One of my hobbies when I shop in neighboring Beitar Illit is to listen to couples talking to each other in Yiddish. I hardly understand anything, but it sounds nice to my ear. A little abroad, a little grandmother, a little Yiddishkeit.)
B. Regarding the principle of Jewish law as the focal point of Judaism, etc., I keep telling you that Mendelssohn and some of his students already argued and discussed this, and I’ll say again that in my humble opinion you’ll find a lot in their words…
Answer
A. I didn’t understand. What does “accepts” mean? That they don’t kill them? Obviously people have some sort of sentiment, despite the Haredim’s tireless efforts to eradicate it (together with cynical use of it).
B. Thanks.
Discussion on Answer
My dear Ish, let us not forget that the Haredim do not present and do not represent traditions and older generations; they are, all in all, a fairly new phenomenon on the stage of Judaism, and will presumably pass from the world like their predecessors.
Indeed, the great wonder is how they managed to penetrate consciousness as representatives of Judaism, of Yiddishkeit, etc. … to such an extent that even educated people have had their eyes plastered over from seeing the great lie they represent?
Yissachar Zalmanovitch reveals on Kol Barama: in Haredi cities, far more tests were conducted than in secular and mixed cities. Since the outbreak of the crisis, in Haredi cities 61.7% of the total population was tested, while in secular cities it was 45.2%, in mixed cities about 40% of the total population, and in Arab cities only 36.6%.
In the secular city of Tel Aviv, since the outbreak of the coronavirus crisis only 40.6% of all residents were tested; in Ra’anana 42.5%, in Ramat Gan 41.5%, and in Eilat only 28.3%. By contrast, in Bnei Brak 67.1% of all residents were tested, in Elad 55.9%, in Modiin Illit 71.4%, and in Rekhasim close to 72% of all residents were tested.
In the last week, in Tel Aviv only 2.8% of all residents were tested, in Ra’anana 2.7%, in Ramat Gan 3.45%, and in southern Eilat only 1.6%. In the Haredi cities — in Bnei Brak 7.6%, in Elad 6.4%, in Rekhasim 9.8% were tested, and in Modiin Illit a record number of 10.4% of all residents.
Wasn’t it supposed to be that an anti-Haredi bloc would now form, and not an anti-Bibi one? (Or maybe that’s too much to ask, but in any case you can see that public figures aren’t fighting against them.) And in general, the hatred and incitement that exist against them are less than what logically ought to be — from a secular point of view.