Q&A: Haredim – State – Army
Haredim – State – Army
Question
I come from the Haredi world… The Haredim are stuck because the secular people took over the Jewish community in the Land of Israel.
I know this sounds extreme and bizarre.
From their perspective, the Haredim preserve the Jewish people in an authentic way; according to their view, as a society they must study in a yeshiva or kollel
from age 14 until around age 30, solely so that the Jew’s basic identity will be preserved… in the current global cultural situation.
You can’t come to a community that truly believes this is its foundation and change it!
There are problems that simply can’t be solved — it’s just a deadlocked situation — Haredim would like to enlist, but it contradicts things that are basic for them.
The Haredim also wanted to establish a state — they were late, no doubt — but they also deserved one.
The person who tried to reach an arrangement with the Palestinians on behalf of the Haredim was murdered by the founders of the state; see here: https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%99%D7%A2%D7%A7%D7%91_%D7%99%D7%A9%D7%A8%D7%90%D7%9C_%D7%93%D7%94_%D7%94%D7%90%D7%9F#%D7%94%D7%A8%D7%A6%D7%97
And they feel that in a certain sense the secular people took over the state — the secular people established a state, fine —
the Haredim [who also have something of their own, especially since in their view they continue the Jewish identity that always existed] were left stuck.
They can’t really be part of the state as a state, so why participate in the Knesset?
Because they can use the state as a kind of building committee for certain needs, as long as it doesn’t contradict the foundations of their beliefs and identity.
There were several opinions — and in the end the view of the Chazon Ish was accepted — to participate in the Knesset,
because the fact that the secular people took over the Jewish community in the Land of Israel doesn’t mean the Haredim have to lose everything…
Where do these arguments fail?
Answer
I’m not really managing to identify any arguments here, so it’s hard to respond. By the same token, a person could say that his principles are not to share the burden with everyone else, and therefore he’s fine in not sharing the burden with everyone else. Someone else will argue that his principles are to exploit everyone else and contribute nothing to them, and therefore the fact that he behaves that way is fine. The Haredim make both of those claims, along with a few more pieces of nonsense of that sort.
It’s a matter of intuition to understand that these principles are not worthy, whereas those of the Haredim definitely are worthy.