Difficult societal problems are solved through education and interaction

Recently I attended two events and they both had the same thing in common: philosophical divides. The first event was the Israeli Independence Day parade and though my schedule only allowed me to come at the tail end of it, I was left with an experience that left me plenty to think about. The second event was the Young Israel of KGH Shavuot forum that is held annually. In both of these events, groups faced off against each other with communication that was lacking and difficult.

The Israeli parade had a contingent of Hasidic Jews demonstrating against the State of Israel. Signs read “Authorized Rabbis Against the State of Israel" or “The Talmud doesn’t allow Jews their own state”. (Quotes may be inexact.) These Hasidics were cordoned off by metal barricades and the police did not allow the pro-Israel paraders to interact with them for fear of triggering a violent episode. In fact the police were so apprehensive of violence that they wouldn’t allow anyone to stand on the sidewalk next to the barricades.

I felt proud being an American where unpopular speech is so protected, that the police, who throughout much of Jewish history were actually oppressing or attacking Jews, were here potentially protecting us from each other. However, off to the side, was a smaller such anti-rally with a sign which read “Boycott Israel - A Satanic State”. At this group, for some reason, people were engaging the Hasidics and I was intrigued to hear what they had to say.

The leader of this small group was an Hasidic with a heavy accent. He told me that he’s not Neturei Karta but I could not understand which group he did represent. He explained that Israel is a Satanic State because its Jews are sinning against G-d, oppressing their Arab neighbors and are not seeking to live in peace with them, at which point a young dark-complected man from outside the barricade uttered “I agree with you 100%” and promptly walked off, probably a Palestinian from the West Bank, I thought.

So I asked the Hasidic spokesman where in the Torah was the source to instruct us that Israel is not allowed for Jews at this time. He explained that the story in Parshas Shlach of the m’roglim (spies), who without authorization, went ahead of the Jews in the desert to scope out the Promised land of Israel, is the source of the current day prohibition of Jews to live in their own land. Permission for the Jews to enter and occupy the Promised Land was granted only when Y’hoshua (Joshua) sanctioned it. Since we no longer have any more prophets, it is not to be our land. I asked him what the Talmud said about this and he was honest enough to say that nothing explicit is stated about this sanctioning requirement but it is hinted at (remizah).

I wanted to know how Israel was oppressing its neighboring Arabs and he answered me that the land of Israel was acquired through robbery and theft when the Jews expelled Arabs from their midst. I asked him whether he truly ever studied the early history of the state of Israel and he was honest enough to say that he hadn’t but he added that it wasn’t necessary for him to have made that study. I told him that the Israeli expulsions of Arabs before the forming of the state and during the war of independence resulted largely from the repeated Arab pogroms or attacks on the Jews which happened as early as the 1920’s. Such retaliation is justified in itself but one can only imagine that the Jews after the experience of the Holocaust in 1948 did not want again to be victims of such sustained horrific violence.

"What would you do with the Jewish State of Israel as it is today?” I asked him. This is where I and the people listening to him were truly taken aback - when he answered “kill them all”. Death? Not even the m’roglim were subjected to the death penalty! He explained that Jews living in Israel today are such sinners, that they lose their status as Jews and that the law that the Torah applied to Amalek, a tribe described as the most avowed enemy of the ancient Israelites, should therefore be applied to the Jews in Israel. At this point I could see he was emotionally invested in what he was saying and it was disconcerting to see such vitriol against fellow humans as a whole, let alone his own kinsmen. It was my conclusion that he along with the others in his movement were suffering from socio/economic disenfranchisement as well as classical brainwashing not unlike that which we see from certain militant Muslim groups. It is now clear to me how he differed with the Neturei Karta because from what I have read, even the Neturei Karta are not for violent overthrow of the Jewish State and certainly not for wanton murder.

At this point I had had my fill of this and I wanted to catch what remained of the concert that followed the parade. On the way, I happened to meet up with a prominent local Queens Rabbi whom I know. I asked him what he thought of the Hasidic protest down the block and whether he engaged them. He told me that it’s a small contingent and it’s best that they’re not given any attention which is a reasonable thought on the practical level in that circumstance. Though as far as I was concerned I felt that I had to know what that anger and protest was all about.

What happened at the YI Kew Garden Hills forum was nothing as dramatic. The subject was “Chareidi vs. Chiloni” (Right Wing Orthodox vs. Secular Jews) and it focused mainly on the question of Yeshivah students being exempt from having to serve in the Israeli army. The Rabbi justifying their exemption explained that by their Torah learning the army is imbued with G-d’s strength and protection. Questions were asked of the Rabbi regarding ‘hishtadlus’ (one’s own efforts for self preservation) and the religious concept that we must not rely on G-d to perform miracles for us. His answer was that even if the Israeli army consisted of only 12 soldiers, it would satisfy the condition of hishtadlus and Israel’s not relying on a miracle from G-d for its protection. Near to where I sat, people were audibly not satisfied with his explanation. I even heard someone say “he’s deluded”.

As it turns out again, days later, I bumped into another prominent Queens Rabbi, whom I know and I discussed this event with him. He explained to me that the Israeli army doesn’t even want young men who don’t want to be there themselves. The Torah tells us the same thing - that he who is afraid to go into war shall not go. Again, I thought, this was a very reasoned position because it is very similar to what we have here in the U.S., which is a volunteer army and we see that this system works well for us. (The fact that the political civilian leadership does not know what it is doing is quite another matter.) But is this really a workable system for Israel, which according to population ratio against its potential enemies, is outnumbered 50 to 1? Granted, as the Rabbi pointed out to me that today’s Israeli army is highly technological and that accounts for its great superiority (aside from G-d’s miracles of course) but even technologies have to be manned by humans and even modern day armies have to have ‘boots on the ground’ in major conflicts so this answer is not an easy one. During the 3 major wars that Israel waged in ’48, ’67 and ’73, it is safe to say that a volunteer army would not have sufficed.

There are no easy answers that can be offered up from one side to another. However the discussion should not begin with conscription guidelines into the army or what the story of the m’roglim teaches us. I say that the communication breakdown stems from a lack of education and cultural background both on the part of the secular side and of the Chareidi side. Orthodox Yeshivahs, by and large, don’t teach Jewish history or the history of Israel. On the other hand, secular society has shed its spiritual bearings at their own peril. That’s true in America and I’m sure it’s true in Israel as well. Societies become arrogant with their own power and lack the humility and integrity that comes from religion and the study of ethics. Rome had powerful armies but its own decadence brought itself down. Societies must be balanced with both military power and spiritual power for both are essential for their survival.

The lament is that today’s Jewish youth don’t have as much appreciation of the Jewish State as in previous generations. The same can also be said of American youth in general regarding American patriotism. Between Facebook and sports practice, how many American youth have that extra time for civic activities? Without nationalism and spirituality corruption and emptiness ensues; corruption - as we see in today’s institutions of business and politics, and emptiness - with societies’ unprecedented reliance on drugs and other vices. Why do we have such an epidemic of emotionally disturbed young people who feel they have no option but to go out in a blaze of ‘glory’ and shoot up their own schoolmates? How come Rabbis, Priests and Ministers aren’t welcomed to speak at PTA’s, schools and colleges about family values which would mitigate these atrocities? How about Young Israel inviting the disenfranchised Hasidics to speak at the next Shavuot forum? Just a thought - but provided of course they were checked for weapons first!

To sum up, militaries and Bible are both needed for a nation to thrive and we need to reach out to each other on both sides for the sake of our own survival.