Rabbi Shai Peron, who holds the number two slot on the Yesh Atid list headed by Yair Lapid, was a guest speaker at a hi-tech conference for the chareidi sector. Peron spoke of today’s realities, that the rabbonim have created a generation of frum Jews incapable of supporting themselves. The “First Ever Conference” was hosted by JVP, a hi-tech venture capital forum along with the Chareidi Hi-Tech Forum.
Peron calls on chareidi leaders to stop “referring to the State of Israel as an enemy of Torah” a hashkafa he feels has “damaged Yiddishkheit” and it has resulted in a generation of frustrated followers incapable of supporting themselves. Peron stated that we must not permit yeshivos to become “Cities of Refuge”, permitting people to escape the workplace.
Seeing things a bit differently, Interior Minister Eli Yishai blames the national government for not doing enough to encourage chareidim to join the workforce, the IDF or a national service program. Yishai stated that regarding chareidim enlisting in Nachal Chareidi or a national service program, that while the government seeks chareidi integration, it fails to take steps to actualize this reality.
Also addressing the forum was Bayit HaYehudi leader Naftali Bennett, a successful hi-tech entrepreneur in his own right. He stated that dati leumi candidates are more likely to be hired over chareidim due to the stigma attached to the chareidi tzibur. He praised the work ethics and abilities of chareidim, urging his hi-tech colleagues to hire them.
Erel Margalit, who founded JVP and is now number 11 on the Labor Party ticket, told participants that if chareidim entered the workplace, Israel could “leap forward”. Margalit lamented the fact that social differences are used for political gain, urging the different sectors of Israeli life to focus on uniting, not dividing.
Most of the estimated 400 participants in the conference were from the chareidi community.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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5 Responses
Alot of doses of reality feed to the participants. Each speaker is accurate in their own way. What is the combined path for existence?
if the secular and non Torah Jews would stop trying to undermine Torah hashkofo it wud help
Irrespective of what Shimon Peres says, history is important. For more than half of the existence of the State of Israel, the State was an open enemy of the Torah community and was only held at bay by political manipulations and foreign pressure. During its second half, it has progressively become let hostile due to the fact that the population of the Torah community has greatly increased and the population of the Torah haters has greatly decreased. There has been unfortunately no change of heart on the part of the haters and those still in power do whatever they can to hurt the Torah community.
The response of the Torah community to this hatred was to bunker under and remain isolated and insulated. That strategy very worked well until recently. The demographics of Israel clearly indicate that in a generation or two, the Torah community will be the overwhelming majority in Israel. This means that the full burden of the State will shortly be on us. Everything.
There are those in the Torah community that have confused strategy with goals and believe that it is a goal to be isolated and insulated from the world. They, correctly, say this has worked out for us very well so why change? They, however, also seem to thing that history is irrelevant and do not understand that with changing realities, strategy must also change.
My Rebbe, Hagoan Rav Chaim Zimmerman OBM, explained that the haters of Torah and the Torah extremists both make the same mistake in thinking that the State of Israel was made for the haters. They were the tool that G-D used and through them the Halacha of Rasha hachin vetzadi lovesh (the wicked will prepare but the righteous will wear)is fulfilled. They build the State for the Torah community and now it is time to claim it and not hide from our responsibilities.
Aryeh Zelasko: I agree with you across the board and your comments are generally spot-on, EXCEPT: When you said, “in a generation or two, the Torah community will be the overwhelming majority in Israel. This means that the full burden of the State will shortly be on us. Everything.” To that I say, “Halevai, and don’t get your hopes up.” Money is power, and as the old saying goes, “Follow the money!” Look at politics vs the will of the people in the USA – all statistics favor, and the loudest noise comes from, the Conservative Right. But the Dems and Libs have the power and hence the money, and despite the Right fighting the good fight, they are defeated for the most part. And that is even with the numbers growing in their favor. For things to turn around it will, sadly, require the influence wielded through the dollar. (And I didn’t even include the power of the media, where we will likely remain sorely outnumbered as well). No different in Medinat Yisrael. We can remain the clear and undisputed–and completely subjugated—majority. We have to work to change this from within. It is not only about numbers. And it’s another good reason to encourage a strong base of parnassa among Chareidim!
They build the State for the Torah community and now it is time to claim it and not hide from our responsibilities.
ARE WE READY & EQUIPPED? Dont we have to iron out our internal differences, machlokes and hatreds towards each other first? Halevei that we will and can!