Fun with haredim and the questions it raises

The crazy activists in Israel have had a busy week.

First, we have this "bleach war"thing in Jerusalem. I have to say, I never played bleach war, but I'm going to guess it's like "color war" at summer camp, only not as fun (whose team are you on?) and slightly more burny.

Oh. Ohhhh.

Ouch.


Man, torching clothing stores and burning holes in women's blouses? And no job? It must be great to be in a subsidized kollel.

I have to say though, I'm a little confused by this- wouldn't making the garment less immodest be exactly the opposite of what these guys want? I say they go around with some duct tape and some high-quality burlap sacks veils and just go to town on whoever's trying to poison their neighborhood with shoulder blades. For shame, maidens of Israel!

According to one participant, the rabbi said “those stores should be closed down – to show the entire world that we are Jews. This is the last place remaining on earth; if it is destroyed, the whole world will be annihilated.”

Dude, I think your beard and peyess are a dead-give-away already. Also, for the mystically-inclined, you'll note that this particular neighborhood is named Geula, or "redemption". Yeah, I'm sure this is how you'll bring the messiah- harassing your neighbors with acid-spraying seltzer bottles.

In other news, longtime wacko Dov Lior (yeah, that Dov Lior) has issued a "ruling" that Reform Jews are to be treated like lepers.

A new Halacha ruling issued by Rabbi Dov Lior of Kiryat Arba instructs Orthodox Jews to steer clear of participating in any events held by Reform Jews and prohibits entering their synagogues. These new restrictions have turned the attitude towards Reform Judaism into one less tolerant than extended to Islam. The Rabbi's ruling was posted to the Beit-El Yeshiva website, after one of the visitors submitted a question on the matter to the Rabbi.

...The question directed to the Rabbi was by a 12 year old girl whose American cousin was coming to Israel to celebrate the girl's Bat Mitzva. The cousin, who belongs to the Reform stream of Judaism, would also be coming of age soon and the Israeli girl would be expected to attend the right-of-passage ceremony in the US. "Can I pray in a Reform mixed synagogue? Can I even enter the synagogue itself?" asked the girl.

By 'mixed' the girl was referring to the Reform practice of treating men and women as complete equals and both sexes pray together as opposed to Orthodox synagogues where they are separated.

The Rabbi left no room for interpretation in his answer: "Do not go there and do not participate in the things they do because they do whatever they want with the Mitzvot. By participating you are legitimizing them, they think that you aren't bothered by their ways," he wrote.

Remember kids, you can still be frum and love your family- just as long as they're frum, too. Otherwise, you have to disown them. And buy bleach.

Luckily, not all rabbis in Israel are as militant as Lior. Yuval Sherlo, a longtime "moderate", says you can dance at their weddings, you just can't attend the vows.

Rabbi Yuval Sherlo of Petach Tikva also says he receives many questions about participation in Reform events, particularly weddings. He takes a more moderate stance than Rabbi Lior: "It's forbidden to attend the Chuppa ceremony," he says, "but later when there's dancing and merrymaking you can come and wish them Mazel-Tov."

Well that's nice, kind of. Any other thoughts, Rav?

Rabbi Sherlo addressed the comparison between Reform Judaism and other religious, saying that "The argument against Reform Jews is stronger than that against Christianity and Islam, due to the face that they are idolaters and enemies, but they're there and we're here. Reforms are fakers."

Oh. O...K... Well, thanks for coming out. [Failed Messiah notes that this isn't that different from the previous status-quo, it's just extremely in-your-face about it, per Lior's style.]

Non-Orthodox rabbis in Israel have also petitioned the High Court recently claiming discrimination in use of mikvehs, or ritual baths, that are needed to perform conversions (also maintain "family purity laws", but come on, no non-Orthos would be interested in that, it would require them to let go of their Bacon McCheeseburger with extra idolatry sauce).

Not having a mikveh is particularly tricky because the water has to be constantly moving (no, I don't think a jacuzzi would count. Ok, maybe for Reconstructionists, but probably not). So what are some alternatives?

The only choice left, according to the petition, is use the sea for ritual immersions, but that presents a problem, especially during the winter because of the risk of drowning. Three years ago during an immersion ceremony in Netanya, one convert almost drowned and rescue services had to be called in.

Thank God for Israel, where for the first time in thousands of years, Jews have the freedom to convert and drown due to Jewish bigotry! It's just like Herzl said, we really can become like all the other nations. *Tear*

The (Orthodox) government Minister, of course, had some brilliant insights:

The minister in charge of the Religious Affairs, MK Yitzhak Cohen (Shas) said in response to the petition: "Conversions of reform and conservative organizations are virtual conversions, and they deserve to immerse in a virtual immersion. This is a vexing petition. The only immersion the reform are aware of is Baptism. So they can continue to walk on water and leave the people of Israel alone."

Leave the people alone, eh... kind of like sequestering yourself behind "Sabbath Protection" barriades and bleach-armed Modesty Patrols and sponging off govt. welfare like a mollusc with a hat? You mean like that?

Incidentally, for those interested in comparing how different religious groups respond to perceived persecution or threats- you might note that no Reform Jews are stoning the Orthos, burning down mikvehs they're banned from using, calling for them to be killed as rodefs or mosers, or any other examples of apalling behavior that radical members of the frum community engage in and which many others, sadly, seem perfectly happy to rationalize and defend. Interesting.

Lastly, Failed Messiah muses about the fact that 60 years on, Israel still has no civil marriage option. His thoughts seem easily applicable to a lot of other issues, as well (like the lack of a Constitution):

is Israel a Jewish state or a state made up primarily of Jews? Orthodoxy holds the former, either as the official doctrine of Rav Kook's followers and most of modern Orthodoxy or as the unofficial policy of all haredim. The rest of Israel primarily adopts the latter view, although the stridency of this adoption varies widely throughout society.

In a perfect world, Israel would have been a benevolent Jewish state, with a constitution based on halakha at its most lenient, with great effort made to deal kindly and thoughtfully with those whose status as non-Jews, safek Jews or as kohanim puts them at odds with a cursory reading of halakha. But the world is not ideal. And the state's handling of these issues of personal status has been and continues to be atrocious, and this is due in no small part to the malfeasance of the rabbis who implement much of it.

Hillel Kook, known more commonly by his adopted name Peter Bergson, the great rescuer of European Jewry during the Holocaust, made this point long ago in near-prophetic terms. Speaking with the insight of a man who came from a distinguished rabbinic family – his uncle was chief rabbi Avraham HaKohen Kook – and who had much experience dealing with Orthodox rabbis in organizational and administrative settings, Kook argued that Synagogue and State mist be separated. If not, he warned, Israeli society would be crippled and fragmented, and the people would be driven away from, not to, religion. Kook was ostracized and hounded for his remarks. He withdrew from politics as a result. [Sort of. It's a little more complicated than that- Kook got in trouble for taking on Menachem Begin, his superior in the right-wing Herut party, which was more "traditional" than religious.]

But Kook was right. Orthodoxy has had almost 60 years to both make its case to non-Orthodox Jews, and to show the rest of Israel they can honestly, fairly and compassionately deal with issues of personal status, Shabbat observance, kashrut and the like. And Orthodoxy has failed miserably and completely in each case. Rather than being the kindly faces of God they have instead become his corrupt and fanatic messengers, ripping Jews away from Judaism and Israelis away from the state.

It is too late now to go back and do it all over again. You had 60 years. You wasted them on Sammarian hilltops and on Mea Shearim riots, on nepotism, cronyism and corruption. You had chances. Plenty of them. You blew it.

Israel will soon dismantle the corrupt Rabbinute and fire the even more corrupt chief rabbis. It will close down the state apparatus for religious affairs. And it will separate Synagogue and State.

Is separation inevitable? And is it desirable? Should the American model, which is incidentally constantly under attack by its opponents as unfair or delusional (who hasn't hear the "but there IS no separation in the Constitution" argument?), be applied in a place like Israel? If not, what is the alternative? Is the present situation optimal or viable?

I think I know where I stand. What about you?

Hat-tip: Failed Messiah.