Tel-Chai Nation

The Times of Israel interviewed Gilad Malach, a senior member of the Israel Democracy Institute, who thinks the ultra-Orthodox spiritual leaders' horrid response to the Coronavirus crisis could deepen trends of individualism among its community members:

The coronavirus pandemic could lead Haredim to rely less on rabbinic sages and think for themselves more when it comes to matters unrelated to religion, a leading expert on the community says.

Gilad Malach, who heads the Ultra-Orthodox in Israel program at the Israel Democracy Institute, does not predict a revolution regarding Haredi reverence for their religious role models. But he estimates that the current crisis, which is seeing thousands of members of the tight-knit community infected — partially due to flawed decision-making by their leaders — could accelerate an existing trend toward more individualism.

And thinking for themselves is a crucial element. The way the spiritual leader Kanievsky initially dismissed the seriousness of the issue before finally deciding they'd have to follow guidelines to avoid it, was a grave act of irresponsibility, to say nothing of a failure to learn from history, recalling that rabbi Akiva from ancient biblical times survived a plague that cost the lives of a lot of his students. Though ignorance of history is exactly the problem with only so many insular Haredi gurus. If this current crisis helps bring about change for the better, it'll be a blessing.

Labels: communications, haredi corruption, Israel, Moonbattery