By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel
CHULA VISTA, California — This past Shabbat, I spoke about the theme of risk as it pertained to Judah’s dilemma; it is only when he shows a willingness to risk his welfare for Benjamin, Judah suddenly displays the heroic trait that many of his descendants would later emulate.
Heroes throughout history have always shown a willingness to embrace the non-being of death, in order to save others from danger or degradation. Unfortunately, one cannot command heroism in the Torah; nor can this quality be politically induced in others. Heroism emanates from the heart of the individual. At the deepest level, the hero symbolizes the human capacity to control, or better yet, domesticate the inner savage. But to achieve this rare feat, one must be willing to recognize the darker impulses that seek dominance in the human psyche.
This would explain why Judah’s transformation is nothing less than awe-inspiring, because it meant he had to confront his own inner darkness and corruption.
By now, most of you have heard about the young Orthodox girl who was spat on by Haredi thugs known as the Sikrikim, a gang that identifies with the infamous Sicari gangs that fought a zero-sum battle against Rome almost 2000 years ago.
Had Rabbi Yochann ben Zakkai failed to leave Jerusalem, i.e., had the Sacari discovered his ruse in escaping, Judaism might not have survived the war.
Some of the Haredi leaders have spoken out against this dangerous group, which has intimidated Haredi members of the Knesset and prominent rabbinical leaders alike. While I was preparing for my Shabbat talk, I accidentally came across a truly brave spirit who wasn’t afraid to confront the Haredim. His name is Yona Klein, and he lives in the town of Beth Shemesh, where he works as a Torah teacher and writer. This young man decided to write an open letter that appeared in the Israel News (formerly Arutz 7).
Oh, by the way, Yona Klein happens to be Haredi. In his plea for sanity and civility, he writes:
“I consider myself a Haredi Jew. I have several Rabbeim [rabbinic authorities]. One is a talmid student of Rav Steinman. Another is a talmid of Rav Sheinberg. I’m not ‘pseudo-Hareidi.’ I’m proud of what I represent, which is why I am asking you to please take off your hats. No black hats, no davening jackets. Your are a disgrace to Hareidi society.
“Everything we stand for can be summed up in terms of following the Gedolim [great sages]. You don’t, and you make a very large, very public scene of it. Every Gadol has time and again explained that we have no business doing what you are doing. The Chazon Ish said it at the beginning. Rav Shternbuch, the head of Eidah Hareidis, said it very recently.
“But you don’t listen to the Gedolim. So why do you dress like Hareidim? In fact, you don’t follow Halakhah either. What you do is totally ossur [forbidden]. For the sake of the Hareidi world, I ask you to take off your hats. For the sake of reducing the massive and overwhelming chillul Hashem [desecration of God’s Name] that you have caused and continue to cause, I ask you to take off your yarmulkes, too.
“I am not saying you must change your way of life. Continue your violent terrorist activities if you must. I don’t think I can change your mind about that. But please, stop seeming to represent the Jewish world while you do it. I am embarrassed to be associated with you. I hate living in the same city as you, having to explain why I am a Hareidi when you people are so disgusting. I wanted to move to a different city to escape you, but then, you moved here.
“What’s to stop you from following me and every other Hareidi wherever we run to? You probably see yourselves as Pinchases [a Biblical zealot], acting out of sincere zealousness for Hashem.
“But Pinchas asked Moshe what to do. You just spit on little children. You are the Zimri here, not the Pinchas [the sinner, not the zealot who punished him].
“Please, stop representing us to the world. We are trying to be light unto the nations. Stop spreading darkness in our name.
“P.S. Time and again, the most effective way of achieving change in today’s world has been shown to be through kindness and education, rather than hatred and violence. If you really want change, why don’t you try that approach? It sounds crazy, but it just might work, and then you could keep wearing the hats.”
I admire Yona; he was not afraid to reveal his identity and confront his fellow Haredim.
Although Yona Klein’s letter strikes a powerful chord in our hearts, it is a pity that the Lithuanian Haredi leader, Rabbi Yosef Shalom Eliyashiv, who has yet to condemn the Beth Shemesh violence. Despite being 100 years old, he continues to express his opinion on numerous other matters, e.g., Haredi Jews should not serve in the Israeli military—regardless of the accommodations the Army makes for them; neither should they pursue a “secular” education in order to find a job.
No, until more rabbinic leaders with the Haredi community decide to come out and condemn the violence of the Haredi gangs, we can expect only more attacks on innocent children and pedestrians. Haredi leaders are only now starting to realize, once you treat the non-Haredi with violence, it is only a matter of time before these same thugs will target “insiders” of their own Haredi community. We have already seen much evidence of this taking place.
Let us do our part in demanding that the Israeli government take a hard stand and break up these dangerous gangs; perhaps then, we will have a respite of tranquility until the next threats come our way.
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Rabbi Samuel is spiritual leader of Temple Beth Sholom in Chula Vista. He may be contacted at michael.samuel@sdjewishworld.com