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Mountain view opposite Mount Herzl

2020-04-27T21:02:42.236Z


David Soldan


In front of my house in the Mount Nof neighborhood in Jerusalem, the side of the mountain stands side by side, the Yad Vashem institutions and the military cemetery - Mount Herzl. This is the view through the balconies of the residents of Agassi Haredi Street. This view, however, signifies two basic assumptions in the building of ultra-Orthodox society. 

On the one hand, the Holocaust - the event that shapes all and the growth engine of ultra-Orthodox society. On the other hand, non-mobilization to the IDF. The price of wars paid by Israeli society can be seen on the mountain opposite where their best construction is buried, while the ultra-Orthodox spaces stand out in their absence.

Our world draws its inspiration from a historic event that we are walking to today - the Holocaust of Europe. Consciously or not, the post-war ultra-Orthodox world decided to revive the magnificent Jewish culture that was destroyed in the Auschwitz ovens. This destruction is our compass. We do everything not only to survive but, as they say in our language - "to restore an old woman."

Indeed, ultra-Orthodox society has managed to establish itself and bring about unprecedented flourishing - even when compared to its pre-Holocaust periods. The restoration of the ultra-Orthodox society was based on a deep sense of mission. Haredim who grew up in the Midrash and Yeshivas wanted to do everything they could to continue the chain of generations, strengthen the Torah world and prevent any secular society around them from cracking it.

The sense of mission that pervaded every soul of the ultra-Orthodox was a kind of boiling heart for seven long years beneath the surface, until it erupted in the form of a strong, self-confident community.

Hitler and his Nazi doers wanted to destroy the Jewish past, but the survivors established a future generation, named their children and grandchildren after their parents, grandparents, and relatives who perished and ensured that they would dress just as well, speak the same language and preserve the life of the perished. The ultra-Orthodox who continue the path of the fallen prove who ended up winning and revenge.

Holocaust trauma dissipated to the sound of the Haredi victory. There is a rash of Torah study in the Zionist State of Israel that has never been. Since the Sinai Mountains, there has been no spiritual wealth of Yeshivot and Midrashim as there is in the State of Israel today and there has not been such a huge number of Torah scholars. There has not yet been such an abundance of Torah libraries that it is impossible to ascertain its scope or even name it. It is clear to all ultra-Orthodox that the goal was achieved above and beyond.        

But there is another unresolved matter and it depends on the scenery there on the mountain right next to Yad Vashem, yes, Mount Herzl, which on the day of battle is coming. This mountain and what it symbolizes in the Israeli public has created a deep controversy between the state and the ultra-Orthodox public, a controversy that has only worsened over the years, and at its center the sweeping exemption for ultra-Orthodox military service. 

The ultra-Orthodox leadership's position sought to secure the yeshivas in the State of Israel after the terrible destruction of the yeshiva world in the Holocaust. This is precisely why the ultra-Orthodox leadership accepts the situation in which most of the men in the vicinity are enrolled as students in yeshivas, although in practice a large part of them are not qualified to study Torah at the highest levels and are unable to meet the demanding agenda required of a yeshiva student. On the other hand, Israeli society refuses to accept the non-Haredi mobilization. She sees this as an evasion and evasion of the first civil duty. Indeed, in a country where many families join the bereavement circle in the wake of the fall of fathers and sons in the defense of the homeland - it is difficult to accept a situation where tens of thousands of recruiting debtors receive automatic exemption from service. The ultra-Orthodox claim to have killed themselves in a Torah tent, but that is no excuse for those who must risk being killed by a shotgun bullet or a cannon shell.

The public indictment is clear and its clauses are not in dispute: the ultra-Orthodox are not only dodging, but also budget-savvy, as well as women and women. Herdophobia in the days of the Corona is full of rage, because the hatred of the ultra-Orthodox in all secular sectors is pure, refined, delightful. But to me, the real reason for the deep hatred lies in this sad mountain.

This hatred is rooted in our isolation. You see us as eccentrics who "did not notice that there is Jewish rule here in the country." we noticed. That's exactly what scares us. In Eastern Europe, 80 years ago, the rules of the game were clear. They were the gentiles, we were the Jews. Their job was to harass, to make us a hard life, occasionally to kill and murder. Our job was to remain faithful to the teachings of Israel and the people of Israel and to make sure that the long-standing Jewish chain was severed. It was clear to everyone who here in the play is the bad guy and who is the best.

In Israel everything was mixed. A complete mess. The government is Jewish, but the rulers are worse than the Gentiles themselves. They know how to speak the Holy Language, but desecrate the Sabbath and trample its sanctity in the public sphere, permit selling forecourt and non-kosher food, enable civil marriage, and encourage permissive life in the Holy Land.

This is why we not only build walls, but also fortify them constantly. This is also why many of us continue to wear black clothes here. Let it be clear to everyone who the Jews are, and who they are. 

But today there seems to be a significant change in the perception of many ultra-Orthodox. Haredi society retains its character, but some of the ultra-Orthodox realize that 80 years after the Holocaust, the national need is not just building a meeting, but also the existence of a state that is a safe place for the Jewish people.

Many ultra-Orthodox go to the army, some of whom even fell in battle and were buried there on that mountain. Quite a few ultra-Orthodox enroll in academia, occupying degrees and partnering for the security and economy of the State of Israel. A few decades ago, the ultra-Orthodox public was not due to accept the fact of the state. In recent years, more and more ultra-Orthodox understand that the Jewish state is the framework that protects them and will also keep them in trouble.

The writer is a publicist and writer, a member of the Burden Equality Committee and the founders of the ultra-Orthodox Nahalad. His new book "The New Haredim"

For more David Zoldan's opinions

Source: israelhayom

All news articles on 2020-04-27

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