Q&A: Like the Soviet Union?
Like the Soviet Union?
Question
An elite group of Haredi men and women from a variety of Haredi communities—a really high-level group—meets regularly (on Thursday night) and learns from a professor (sometimes people with less lofty degrees) about Haredi society.
Of course, the lecturers are either from the community or this is their field of work.
Recently, a respected and well-known professor in the field said that hundreds of thousands of Haredi men and women are in fact people who have left the community inwardly (for now only in their hearts, and are waiting for the right moment to leave openly), and that the Haredi community is basically in the state the Soviet Union was in in 1988.
Everyone agreed that this is the situation (except for two people: one was a guest who had come for the first time, and me, humble me—only with a master’s degree, my education is surely lacking, especially in sociology. I didn’t understand all the assumptions, certainly not the analysis, and definitely not the conclusions), and the discussion was about what can be done with this and how at least some can be saved, etc.
My question:
The Rabbi was in the Haredi sector and left in favor of other communities of worshippers of God. Does it seem to the Rabbi that this is indeed the situation? (For them it was simply obvious, and the discussion was what can be done.)
And if so, does the Rabbi have any sense of why this is so?
And when will it blow up?
Is it worth running away before it gets here?
I’m really confused…
I’d be glad for answers, if the Rabbi has any.
Answer
There’s no reason to run away before it arrives. Nothing is going to blow up there, and it’s doubtful that anything is really about to happen even without an explosion. Haredi society is not going to fall apart so quickly, even without any blow-up. People have been predicting its end for many years already, and it hasn’t really happened.
I’ve written more than once that the only thing worth doing in this situation is to be courageous and voice criticism openly. The problem with those people is that, unlike other oppressed groups, they don’t have the courage to organize, fight, and pay a price. Each person is worried for himself and says he doesn’t want to pay the price. They expect other people from the outside to carry out an instant revolution for them, without costs. But there is no revolution without costs. Just as the Palestinians do not help themselves but only whine and murder and expect others to act for them.
Indeed, there are many such people in the Haredi sector, but they remain isolated, and so there is no backing for others who feel this way. Change will not come until these people organize openly and remain critical Haredim. At the very least, there needs to be enough courage to leave for other religious groups.
What prevents an average Haredi person who has understood that Judaism is true and Haredi ideology is false from moving to other communities within the Jewish people?