"Broke into the house, and you want help to fight the neighbors?"
"Don’t need favors," cried the Hasidic scholar, before running the orderly teachings • "Do not pay pensions and not enlist. We were here before you - and we'll be here after you" • incisive column
- Itzik Halperin, B'Chadrei Charedim
- ג' ניסן התשע"ג
A week ago a surprising message was sent to my email, sent from a store in Geula. The sender is a chassidish avrech. He opened with an apology, 'sometimes I read your articles'. He promised he doesn’t have internet G-d forbid-since he has no access. 'My brother in law prints the articles', he explained.
Printed or not, I thought to myself, now I have proof someone actually reads what I write. I decided that the content doesn’t make a difference, I have one admirer and I must treat him with respect and at least read what he wrote.
The letter was filled with pain and anger, it was evident that the words came from the heart, he complained about our behavior as a society, the attempts of mediation and advocacy between us and the secular world. Under the title 'the time has come to say the truth', he was full of anger. I replied to his email and promised to publish his letter.
Here is the following letter, a document that has it all - except politically correct:
The time has come to say the truth to the secularists.
"Echoes of incitement against the ultra-Orthodox community are heard all the time and increasing every day. Maybe it's time to change and admit that the system of the Satmar Rebbe is correct, and say the truth to the secularists," he begins.
He goes on to tell of the three weeks, convincing me why we cannot live in the Zionists State. "You conquered us. We lived here generations before the arrival of the Zionists; sixty years ago they came and built a country around us. Think of it as if I burst your home, start a fight with the neighbors and even require you to help me in the war against them."
Chassidish Mr. X argues that we bring on ourselves the draft decree, that we are partners in the country. "In the past," he says, "I was just like everyone else; I voted in elections and paid taxes." Following the last election he got sober and his main agenda is based primarily on the words 'moichel toives'.
"Do not give budgets and do not tell us what to do. We do not want to recruit, end of discussion. We do not believe in the State of Israel. We live here in Israel, we came here before the seculars and we will stay here after them. We have been through many exiles; once under the Ottoman, once the Turks and the British and now in the Zionist secular exile.
We are believers and we are the sons of believers," says X, "We believe in the holy Torah that it protects us, and we will continue that way. It is impossible to recruit a soldier by force. Just like you will not recruit the Arabs, so you will not recruit the Haredim. Simply put we do not believe in a secular country and we will not fight for it. Arabs do not sing the 'Tikva' and neither do we. We have 'our hope' - ותחזינה עינינו בשובך לציון ברחמים'' this is the only song we are ready to sing for our nation."
"Enough with the flattery, as if we do not contribute anything to the country here. To our dismay, we have no choice, we contribute, the average family of 8-10 persons is paying more power and more fuel, more shopping and VAT which the state cuts higher than the rest of the population, so stop the whining. If they would give something to the ultra-Orthodox families, but they do not give and we continue to suck up, what you get for Social Security or other benefits it is nothing compared to what we pay."
"As soon as they stop taking budgets they will not be able to do anything. Indeed, when the budgets stop there will also be more and more yeshiva students to go out to work - as in past generations our ancestors worked for a living. This does not contradict the supreme value of Torah study and we see it in the Daf Yomi shiurim, etc. Jews working for a living do not give up set intermittent for Torah. No one objects to working, we oppose Zionism which tries to enslave us for 160 per month from Social Security."
At the end of the letter, he asked me: "Do me a favor and write it", he knows that not everyone thinks so, but he is willing to risk a popular article. The way of Rabbi Yoel of Satmar screams from his throat, and it is in his 'soul' to pass it on to the general public.
Printed or not, I thought to myself, now I have proof someone actually reads what I write. I decided that the content doesn’t make a difference, I have one admirer and I must treat him with respect and at least read what he wrote.
The letter was filled with pain and anger, it was evident that the words came from the heart, he complained about our behavior as a society, the attempts of mediation and advocacy between us and the secular world. Under the title 'the time has come to say the truth', he was full of anger. I replied to his email and promised to publish his letter.
Here is the following letter, a document that has it all - except politically correct:
The time has come to say the truth to the secularists.
"Echoes of incitement against the ultra-Orthodox community are heard all the time and increasing every day. Maybe it's time to change and admit that the system of the Satmar Rebbe is correct, and say the truth to the secularists," he begins.
He goes on to tell of the three weeks, convincing me why we cannot live in the Zionists State. "You conquered us. We lived here generations before the arrival of the Zionists; sixty years ago they came and built a country around us. Think of it as if I burst your home, start a fight with the neighbors and even require you to help me in the war against them."
Chassidish Mr. X argues that we bring on ourselves the draft decree, that we are partners in the country. "In the past," he says, "I was just like everyone else; I voted in elections and paid taxes." Following the last election he got sober and his main agenda is based primarily on the words 'moichel toives'.
"Do not give budgets and do not tell us what to do. We do not want to recruit, end of discussion. We do not believe in the State of Israel. We live here in Israel, we came here before the seculars and we will stay here after them. We have been through many exiles; once under the Ottoman, once the Turks and the British and now in the Zionist secular exile.
We are believers and we are the sons of believers," says X, "We believe in the holy Torah that it protects us, and we will continue that way. It is impossible to recruit a soldier by force. Just like you will not recruit the Arabs, so you will not recruit the Haredim. Simply put we do not believe in a secular country and we will not fight for it. Arabs do not sing the 'Tikva' and neither do we. We have 'our hope' - ותחזינה עינינו בשובך לציון ברחמים'' this is the only song we are ready to sing for our nation."
"Enough with the flattery, as if we do not contribute anything to the country here. To our dismay, we have no choice, we contribute, the average family of 8-10 persons is paying more power and more fuel, more shopping and VAT which the state cuts higher than the rest of the population, so stop the whining. If they would give something to the ultra-Orthodox families, but they do not give and we continue to suck up, what you get for Social Security or other benefits it is nothing compared to what we pay."
"As soon as they stop taking budgets they will not be able to do anything. Indeed, when the budgets stop there will also be more and more yeshiva students to go out to work - as in past generations our ancestors worked for a living. This does not contradict the supreme value of Torah study and we see it in the Daf Yomi shiurim, etc. Jews working for a living do not give up set intermittent for Torah. No one objects to working, we oppose Zionism which tries to enslave us for 160 per month from Social Security."
At the end of the letter, he asked me: "Do me a favor and write it", he knows that not everyone thinks so, but he is willing to risk a popular article. The way of Rabbi Yoel of Satmar screams from his throat, and it is in his 'soul' to pass it on to the general public.
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