It’s well known that the Rabbi doesn’t like them, but that doesn’t justify ignoring reality to the point of fantasy. If “Mercaz” were really that esoteric, the whole world wouldn’t be talking about its decision for so long. Even Bennett himself—who, as is known, even when he was right-wing wasn’t considered one of its great admirers—felt pressured to hold and publicize a counter-event (in a truly esoteric place) like Lindenbaum Institute.

With God’s help, 39th day of the Omer, 5782

Bar Kamtza would have had no complaint at all if he had simply not been invited to the banquet, since a person has every right not to invite someone he doesn’t love to his private event. The problem was that he actually was invited by the host’s agent, and even if the messenger made a mistake—still, expelling him from the banquet involved humiliation, especially since he was willing to pay. But not inviting him in the first place—what exactly is the problem?

And the sharp position of the head of Yeshivat Mercaz HaRav, Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda Kook of blessed memory, against the first Rabin government is well known—a minority government founded on the votes of Arab Knesset members. They weren’t talking there about Arabs being members of the coalition, but about “outside support,” and nevertheless Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda related to that government with great severity and said, “We have no government,” so Rabbi Yaakov Shapira is faithful to the principle established by Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda.

Moreover, Bennett behaved like Bar Kamtza, and in order to take revenge on Netanyahu for not inviting him into the government, he transferred power to those who aspire to a Palestinian state, to whom he handed the positions of foreign minister, defense minister, and minister of public security, and his government is fighting the yeshiva students and the Chief Rabbinate, the handiwork and “apple of the eye” of Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, and is battling for the division of the land, against which Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda fought with all his might. Should the yeshiva he founded extend to Mr. Bennett “the other cheek”?

Regards, Not a Sucker

One of our problems is that most of the public are ignoramuses, and for them, someone in a long black suit is a rabbi and others aren’t really. The yeshiva’s image and its history in connection with Rabbi Kook gave it a reputation as if it were some magnificent institution, and that image feeds itself. Public figures don’t examine what it’s actually worth and how much influence it really has; they just follow the image. But in truth it’s a small sect with no real influence. Even the laymen and Rabbi Kook followers who, out of inertia, treat it with respect, aren’t really influenced by their nonsense.

From Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda’s sharp opposition to Rabin’s first government, which was a “minority government” relying on Arab votes, MK Smotrich learned to reject the formation of a government relying on Arab votes even if it was headed by the Right.

Rabbi Tau, who was aware of the precedent Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda had set, initially opposed the idea of a right-wing government relying on Arabs and defined it as a “desecration of God’s name,” but he retracted his opposition because the alternative—a left-wing government that both relies on Arabs and also seeks the division of the land and separation of religion and state—is far worse.

I wanted to distinguish and say that Netanyahu’s government relying on Arabs is not a “minority government,” since the majority of the Jewish voting public supports it, but MK Smotrich and his rabbis didn’t accept these reasonings and stuck to Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda’s precedent without “conservative midrash” 🙂

Regards, L.A.P. HaLevi

As an avowed follower of that ridiculous sect, I’d be happy to know whether Rabin, during his first government, was invited on Jerusalem Day to Mercaz HaRav. I really don’t know.

https://www.makorrishon.co.il/nrg/online/11/ART2/694/922.html

“The one who didn’t come to the rallies at the yeshiva was the Chief of Staff of the Six-Day War, Yitzhak Rabin. Even as prime minister he refrained from participating in the annual event. Eizman believes this stemmed from his personality: ‘These events didn’t suit Rabin. He was much more modest and much shyer than others. He had ties with the rabbis of the yeshiva over the years, but appearing inside the yeshiva didn’t suit him.’

Steiner presents the connection between Rabin and Mercaz HaRav in a less positive light. ‘During Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda’s time, it wasn’t unusual for prime ministers to come to him from time to time. Begin used to meet with him a lot, and he also got along fairly well with Peres. But Rabin was never with him. With him, it just didn’t work.’

Rabin’s absence from the 1974 assembly, shortly after he had been chosen by his party to succeed Golda, was not very surprising. In those days Rabin declared that he wouldn’t mind visiting Gush Etzion with a tourist visa, and Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda reacted sharply to that. ‘Let the one who said such things know that the people of Israel do care, and care very much. They will divide the Land of Israel over our dead bodies,’ said the rosh yeshiva on Israel Independence Day of that year.”

Rabin made sure to stay away, meaning he was invited and didn’t come.

Both Rabbi Tau and Rabbi Aviner, and, with all due distinctions, Rabbi Kanievsky as well, published calls to establish a government with the Arabs. (The first two, along with other rabbis, apparently even in a letter.)
Only they proposed that to the person indicted for bribery, fraud, and breach of trust, and not to a Jew who observes Torah and commandments.
In any case, we’ve also seen from Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda’s students that this isn’t really some sacred principle, and when necessary it’s fine.

Rabin, who decided not to come—even had he not been invited, it wouldn’t have been such an injury.
After all, this is an event of the Religious Zionists, not of all Israel.
But someone from the very flesh of the Religious Zionist community who isn’t invited—that is humiliation on their part toward him.
And it’s a shame that the study hall of Rabbi Kook should become an acronym for Kamtza and Bar Kamtza.

With God’s help, 28 Iyar 5782

For the sake of the historical discussion: Rabin established his minority government (about which Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda said, “We have no government”) on 13 Sivan 5734 (3/6/74). Therefore, there was no reason not to invite Rabin on Jerusalem Day 5734, two weeks earlier! Rabin himself refrained from coming to the assembly for his own reasons, perhaps as a signal to Ratz and the Arabs who were about to be his partners in the “minority government.”

Regards, Edmond Akavia Lichtman-Lederer HaMeiri

It is worth noting that Rabin headed the largest faction in the Knesset (54 seats), and before forming the government he did not hide his left-wing views and openly declared that “he wouldn’t mind coming to Gush Etzion with a tourist visa.” Rabin was left-wing, but straightforward.

By contrast, Mr. Bennett is the representative of a small faction of 7 MKs, who deceived his voters, to whom he promised he would not support a government headed by the Left. Bennett’s own strategic adviser during the election testified about him that he would be “fine” and would see “things you see from there,” as Sharon did. Long live the vast difference.

Last year, before he declared his partnership with Lapid, Bennett was invited to the Jerusalem Day assembly and refrained from coming. So even aside from his questionable conduct—why invite someone who doesn’t want to come?

And still, the yeshiva showed sensitivity and refrained from inviting Benjamin Netanyahu, the leader of the opposition, as well. They decided that this year there would be no political marker at the event, and made do with the President of the State and the mayor.

Regards, A.A.L.H.

And in general, to trouble the religious prime minister to come on Saturday night from his official residence in Ra’anana? With all due respect to the yeshiva, this isn’t Putin 🙂 Even from the standpoint of security, a prime ministerial visit on Saturday night could have involved serious Sabbath desecration.

I thought it was a yeshiva with the light of Rabbi Kook.
I thought it was a place where they raise up a reserve of spiritual shepherds for the Jewish people.
I thought it was a place that sees and understands complexity, that sees and understands all Israel, and out of that and for that stands up Torah scholars…
I thought…

Now it looks more like just a collection of young people in the Smotrich-Ben Gvir space and other forms of pettiness.
Ah…
Really weak.

Not worth a discussion.
And maybe truly a serious and busy person who knows what’s really going on there shouldn’t take time out for a narrow, sectoral political party branch, and apparently a somewhat petty one too.

In the article “Bennett’s adviser: He is about to change like Ariel Sharon,” George Birnbaum is quoted. He was the strategic adviser of Yamina in the last elections, and he said in an interview with the American press that Bennett “will change like Ariel Sharon.” And a baker is certainly trusted to testify about his own dough 🙂

In any case, the heads of Yeshivat Mercaz HaRav did well in avoiding a personal insult toward Bennett, and instead decided not to invite political leaders this year—not the prime minister and not the leader of the opposition—and to make do with the President of the State and the mayor, who represented the state-oriented aspect.

Regards, Edmond Akavia Lichtman-Lederer HaMeiri

It seems that Rabbi Yaakov Shapira follows his own approach of almost completely avoiding expressing a position on public and political issues. If his predecessors—Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda and Rabbi Avraham Shapira—could at one and the same time voice sharp public criticism of the leaders of the state, and at the same time invite them respectfully to a yeshiva event—Rabbi Yaakov Shapira apparently prefers not to enter the public domain and to maintain “radio silence” 🙂 By the way, at his age—early seventies—even Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda and Rabbi Avraham Shapira had not yet made their voices heard in public…

With God’s help, Jerusalem Day 5782

Above I described what, in my estimation, is the policy of Yeshivat Mercaz HaRav—to refrain from inviting Bennett, but not to do so demonstratively. It seems almost certain to me that the publicizing of the non-invitation was done by someone close enough to the administration to know of the intention not to invite him, and who publicized it in order to pressure the yeshiva into inviting him after all.

My personal view in such a case is that inviting him to sit at the “presidium table” would not be proper, but in my humble opinion there is no objection to inviting him in his “natural size,” as the leader of a small faction on the order of Smotrich. That’s what I did about two years ago when the annual memorial for the former Sephardic Chief Rabbi, Rabbi Nissim of blessed memory, was devoted to the issue of conversion in Israel, and I was asked to send invitations to various public figures who were involved in the matter and would presumably be interested in it.

So I sent invitations to the study day to the ministers of justice, religious services, education, diaspora affairs, absorption, and interior, for whom the issue of conversion falls within their areas; to the heads of the religious parties—MKs Bennett, Smotrich, Deri, and Gafni—and to MK אלעזר Stern and Benjamin Netanyahu, who had been involved in discussions on conversion issues in the past.

I also sent invitations to several dozen rabbis and heads of yeshivot, ulpanot, and conversion court judges, jurists and researchers of Hebrew law, and activists for immigrants from the former Soviet Union such as Sharansky, Edelstein, and the like—who by virtue of their work might come to the study day or watch it on Zoom.

It was clear to me that Bennett would not respond to such an invitation arriving in an envelope through the Knesset mail, without coordination with his office, and would understand that the invitation was sent only out of courtesy. And indeed, he responded politely: someone from his office called the office and informed the director in an apologetic tone that he would be unable to come. I breathed a sigh of relief :).

Obviously, what can be done at the event of an obscure institution cannot be done at a central event of the central yeshiva of Religious Zionism. There, the courteous option was either to invite both Bennett and Netanyahu to the “presidium table,” or to invite neither this one nor that one.

Regards, Edmond Akavia Lichtman-Lederer HaMeiri

On the other hand, Bennett should be appreciated for insisting that the Flag Dance proceed this year as usual, despite the cries of some of his coalition partners that waving Israeli flags in Jerusalem is a “provocation.” Still, one could say that it would have been better had he not crowned them as ministers in the government ")

Regards, A.A.L.H.

Fine, the hardline yeshivot—but what did Mercaz do wrong that you write about it: “In truth it’s a small sect with no real influence. Even the laymen and Rabbi Kook followers who, out of inertia, treat it with respect, aren’t really influenced by their nonsense.”
Why are they a sect? What do you mean by their nonsense? Is there something specific against Mercaz or something they did? All in all, this is a serious yeshiva. Also, from what I understand, it has become more Haredi over the years. I don’t understand what aroused your anger.

Nothing aroused my anger. I’m not angry. The megalomania of “the central world yeshiva” amuses me. The feeling that they are the world center is a kind of sect. Though yes, less so than the hardline yeshivot.

Now it’s clear why only President Herzog was invited to Yeshivat Mercaz HaRav. Since this is a “sect,” only President Herzog was invited, because his brother Mike studied at Yeshivat Mercaz HaRav. Of this “sect” it may be said: “A band full of joyful song and delight” 🙂

Regards, H.K. T.R.Y.SH. K.T.