Tel-Chai Nation

Tzohar director rabbi David Stav argues that movements in the Knesset like the RZP have to shoulder some blame for division in Israel, and he even made sure to acknowledge he's aware of the far-left's offensive behavior as well:

A leading religious-Zionist rabbi criticized his own community’s leaders for going too far with the judicial reform and causing a rift in the nation.

Rabbi David Stav, chairman of the Tzohar organization and the chief rabbi of Shoham, told The Jerusalem Post that it was shocking that “those who were the last to give dialogue a chance were from the religious-Zionist camp.”

The members and heads of the religious-Zionist bloc, including Otzma Yehudit chairman and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Religious Zionist Party chairman and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, were against any halting of the judicial reform legislation, even though it led to great instability in the country.

“It is chilling to think what has happened to the religious-Zionist community, from what was considered to be a bridge between religion and Zionism, Torah and avodah [business ventures], Torah and mada [science] and Torah with derech eretz [proper behavior],” he said. “Unfortunately, some of our leaders, elected officials, and rabbis speak in a tone that frightens many people in Israeli society – and rightfully so.”

He explained how “there is a feeling that there are two camps in Israel: the ‘secular, Ashkenazi and democratic’ camp and the ‘traditional, religious, conservative and ultra-Orthodox’ camp.” He said he sees a “great danger and a rift to Judaism and to Israeli society.”

Stav emphasized that the problematic rhetoric coming from religious-Zionist leaders isn’t just about the judicial reforms. Bloc members introduced “dozens of laws,” he said, and “the secular people are rightly made to think that in 10-20 years, the ultra-Orthodox will be the majority and will limit their rights.”

Among these, he noted, were the different suggested amendments to the Law of Return; and the draft law that would have caused “immodestly dressed” men and women to go to jail for six months if they visit the Kotel.

On these, he's absolutely correct. The issue involving the Western Wall is so utterly petty, and it makes little difference whether it was supported by either/both Haredi parties and the RZP, it's alienating, dehumanizing and offensive, and worst, it drives people away from religion. For so many years now, you hear religious movements like these talk all the time about "modesty", and they've effectively turned it into a dirty word, absolutely offensive to women. It must be made clear to all Orthodox religious movements, Haredi or otherwise, that this kind of BS must cease, because sooner or later, it's going to cost Israel big time.

However, he said the “forceful and violent” rhetoric from secular Israelis is also a concern, adding that many of his community members – religious Israelis – consult with him regarding wearing their kippah at their workplace because the dialogue has become so toxic.

“I get questions from religious people who are ashamed to go to work with a kippah and women with a head covering,” he said. “Not in the sense of not being religious, but in not being identified as religious; they are ashamed of what the religious community represents nowadays.”

Blaming secular Israelis for violence nationwide

Stav said that Tzohar, the rabbinic organization that he has headed for many years, is promoting many “two-way conversations,” dialogue that is “a journey from the world of our religious communities to bring back the voices of reasoning and of dialogue, not of force. Judaism is a brand that belongs to all of us: It’s not anyone’s personal monopoly.”

He also said that he is against the “Hametz Law,” which enables hospital directors to block hametz from entering hospitals during Passover. It is “a stupid law,” he said, and “will not help any Jew abide by the halachic rules of Passover. It was possible to reach settlements and compromises. After all, no one will enforce this law anyway. It’s an unnecessary law that causes hatred.”

Yes, and it surely can't be the only one of its sort. There are, to be sure, several that should be reversed, and if they don't do so now, it's entirely possible it could all come back and bite them in the ass sooner or later. I want to point out that head coverings for a woman's hair are one thing, but shaving the head and substituting it with a wig is entirely another, and that's a custom that must be jettisoned; it's throughly denigrating for women, and one of the worst ideas the Satmar conceived decades ago that insults Holocaust survivors.

So does Stav have some valid concerns? Yes, I'll say he does, and even the Haredi parties are going to have to start altering their MO if they really don't want to look like autocratic monsters, with the biggest irony being their socialist economic platforms. They'll also have to start debating him on television, and soon.

Labels: communications, haredi corruption, Israel, Judaism, Knesset, misogyny, Moonbattery, political corruption