Q&A: The Haredi Outlook on Running the State and Integration
The Haredi Outlook on Running the State and Integration
Question
Hello Rabbi,
Do you have an article you wrote about the Haredi outlook on everything connected to running the state and how they integrate into it?
I just found myself in a conversation/argument with a “typical” Haredi person, and I argued that they need to get much more involved in state affairs and be part of the whole system, in every area.
And he claimed, in the final analysis, that entering “this world” will destroy the “World to Come,” because it will lead people to become arrogant and to forget the Torah.
That is exactly the same claim the Haredim made when they had to deal with the Enlightenment movement—they were afraid of becoming secular, and now too it is the same thing.
What do you think the answer to that is? a0
Thank you
Answer
The answer is that it is not true that one should pay any price out of fear of corruption or decline. There is a proper and correct way to live, even if it carries risks. As for the World to Come of people who live in such a distorted way, I would not sign off on that. And by the way, the Haredi attitude toward the Enlightenment is what brought upon us all the secularization of the last generations. If anything, the Enlightenment is evidence to the contrary.