Toward a Religious Zionist Humanism

In his new book In His Image: The Image of God in Man, Yuval Cherlow—a prominent Israeli rabbi involved in a wide range of social and political endeavors—seeks to recover ethical principles in the Torah that he believes are often underemphasized and adapt them to the modern Jewish situation. Key to his thought is the need to respond to both the Holocaust and the creation of a Jewish state. (Interview by Alan Brill):

Two [mutually reinforcing necessities arise] from the Holocaust. The first [is to turn the state of Israel] into the safest place in the world for Jews. The scar etched in us by the Holocaust obligates us never to rely fully on anybody in the world, and to maintain a political and national entity in which we defend ourselves. . . . I don’t mean an isolated state, but one which engages the world, in the manner that enlightened countries do. However, its foremost concern [must be] the safety of its citizens and the safety of Jewish people the world over. . . .

[Second], we must partner with the entire world in fortifying those elements that fight against the very possibility of repeating the Holocaust. [Above all], this should be done by promoting a world in which human rights, individual freedom, human dignity, and life are the fundamental principles that underlie any government. But that is not enough. . . .

The Torah itself teaches us about the great dangers that are intrinsic to power. [The book of Deuteronomy] warns of the danger that the king’s heart will be “lifted above his brethren,” meaning that the power he yields will corrupt [him]. It is important to emphasize [that the] Torah [recognizes the] importance [of] power and strength, manifested in a stable [government. However], the Torah does not ignore the great risks present in monarchy, and for that reason it orders restrictions [on the government’s power]. . . .

[T]he Torah [creates additional sources of public authority]: the priest, the judge, and the prophet, [thus anticipating] the principle of separation of powers [found in the writings of] Montesquieu. . . . [E]ven today we need institutions that limit the ruling power, and until we return to the days of prophecy and priesthood, it is very important that there be substitutes for those institutions.

Read more at Book of Doctrines and Opinions

More about: Holocaust, Jewish ethics, Judaism, Judaism in Israel, Montesquieu, Religion & Holidays

It’s Time for Haredi Jews to Become Part of Israel’s Story

Unless the Supreme Court grants an extension from a recent ruling, on Monday the Israeli government will be required to withhold state funds from all yeshivas whose students don’t enlist in the IDF. The issue of draft exemptions for Haredim was already becoming more contentious than ever last year; it grew even more urgent after the beginning of the war, as the army for the first time in decades found itself suffering from a manpower crunch. Yehoshua Pfeffer, a haredi rabbi and writer, argues that haredi opposition to army service has become entirely disconnected from its original rationale:

The old imperative of “those outside of full-time Torah study must go to the army” was all but forgotten. . . . The fact that we do not enlist, all of us, regardless of how deeply we might be immersed in the sea of Torah, brings the wrath of Israeli society upon us, gives a bad name to all of haredi society, and desecrates the Name of Heaven. It might still bring harsh decrees upon the yeshiva world. It is time for us to engage in damage limitation.

In Pfeffer’s analysis, today’s haredi leaders, by declaring that they will fight the draft tooth and nail, are violating the explicit teachings of the very rabbis who created and supported the exemptions. He finds the current attempts by haredi publications to justify the status quo not only unconvincing but insincere. At the heart of the matter, according to Pfeffer, is a lack of haredi identification with Israel as a whole, a lack of feeling that the Israeli story is also the haredi story:

Today, it is high time we changed our tune. The new response to the demand for enlistment needs to state, first and foremost to ourselves, that this is our story. On the one hand, it is crucial to maintain and even strengthen our isolation from secular values and culture. . . . On the other hand, this cultural isolationism must not create alienation from our shared story with our fellow brethren living in the Holy Land. Participation in the army is one crucial element of this belonging.

Read more at Tzarich Iyun

More about: Haredim, IDF, Israeli society