More Evidence Chareidim Simply Aren't Torah Observant...

I saw this article thanks to Rabbi Maryles over at Emes Ve-Emunah, in which Chareidim have gone in and taken over a part of Bet Shemesh, near Jerusalem, and are trying to Chareidisize it by imposing prohibitions against the more established population there. The police have legally taken signs the Chareidim put up illegally and have gotten into actual confrontations with the police. Some were even arrested. Then, their leader threatens dire consequences to anyone who goes against them and their dictates.

There is a very basic halacha Jews MUST follow in any country in which they live: Dina D'Malchusa Dina - the law of the land is the law. If the law says don't jaywalk, you are NOT allowed to jaywalk (a law widely ignored by New Yorker Jews across the board and by Yeshivish people who live in my neighborhood and cross 20 feet away from the crosswalk because they're too lazy to walk to the crosswalk and too rushed to get to kollel to wait for the light).

This halacha is widely ignored by the Chareidim who live in Israel as well. They dodge the draft, they demand things of a government they hate, like money and welfare for those dodging the draft, and they cause huge Chilulei Hashem on a regular basis. They attack the police whenever they get a chance, throw rocks at busses, and are all around hooligans, as the article linked above shows.

Ok. So you hate the state of Israel. Congratulations. You have two choices: Get the hell out, or live there as you would in golus and obey the law of the land as you should (not that they would, since they don't really follow Halacha) in any other foreign country.

You can't have it both ways. You can't curse out the government and then tell that same government they have to support you. Sure, you have the freedom of speech to denounce the government. We all do it at one point or another. I do all the time. I hate Bush. But I also obey the laws here. Perhaps the time has come for the Israeli government to simply stop supporting these parasites and tell them, point blank, that if they are not going to start obeying the law of the land, including going into the army, that the government will simply no longer support them. Period. End of Story...

It's just one more Halacha, amongst a great many, that Chareidim simply ignore because it is inconvenient to them to follow it. Proof positive that, as I've said before, these people are no more Torah Observant, perhaps even less so in many ways, than any Reform Jew.

As I've said before, the possuk says "Lo Sasur YAMIN O Smol - do not deviate RIGHT or left." Many have been the times when the Torah Observant world in general has denounced those who deviate to the left, i.e. the more secular Jews, such as Conservatives and Reforms.

What no one seems to notice is that it says FIRST not to deviate to the right. It's similar to the drash made about two pesukim involving parents. The Aseres HaDibros states "Honor your father and your mother." A possuk later on states "Fear you mother and your father." It's easy to honor one's mother, so God made sure we understood we must also honor our fathers, and put father first when it came honoring one's parents. It's also easy to fear one's father, so God made sure we understood we must also equally fear our mothers, and put her first when it came to the mitzvah of fearing one's parents.

There is a reason God put YAMIN before Smol, right before left. He knows how easy it is to deviate to the left, how tempting it is to be a fanatic. So He warned about that first.

I once saw a a Babylon 5 movie called "The Legend of the Rangers." The Rangers in the Babylon 5 universe are defenders and protectors of the peace, and their slogan is "We live for the One, we die for the One" (what the One is is irrelevant here...). Using this slogan, they never back down from a fight, even if it means certain death. The Captain of one ship decided to back down to save his crew and was severely reprimanded. Along comes the Narn, G'Kar (played by the incomparable Andreas Katsulas, RIP), and remarks "Funny, there seems to be a lot of dying for the One, but not a lot of living going on..." Or something along those lines. His point - the Rangers seemed to be ignoring the "Living for the One" part and only focussing on the "Dying for the One" half of the phrase...

The same thing is going on here. I've begun decrying Chareidi behavior not because they upset me any longer, but because I'm trying to prove to the world that THESE PEOPLE ARE SIMPLY NOT TORAH OBSERVANT, any more than someone who deviated to the left and no longer keeps Torah is Torah observant.

Something to think about...