Reply To: I just don't get it

A good argument for English education in chareidi schools would be that students might learn the difference between a right, an entitlement, and a law.

Rights are generally enshrined in a constitution, or other governing document. In a democracy, they deal with broad fundamental underpinnings of civic engagement, discourse, access, and responsibility. RIghts are almost always inalienable, and are generally only taken away if the individual is incarcerated for a crime, or poses a security threat to the state, as deemed by its security services.

Entitlements are usually described as services or benefits that citizens (or taxpayers, or those who have performed civic duties such as civil or army service) may be able to claim or access from government or quasi government sources, based on the approval of such entitlements by the legislative body of the state. Such entitlements depend on the continuing approval of the legislature, which has the democratic mandate to change, increase, or decrease such entitlements as it sees fit.

Law in this context generally applies to permission or prohibition of action, as it relates to individuals, corporations, or the state. It doesn’t necessarily apply an entitlement. It may in fact be a deliberate roadblock to an entitlement. Laws may be passed by any legislature.

Laws and entitlements depend on the approval of the legislature and or the state judiciary. If, for example, BEn Gurion made a deal with the Chazon Ish, It had the status of law or entitlement. As such it is not inalienable, and its continuing application depended on the capacity of those who wanted it to continue (ie the chareidi public/leaders) to convince the electorate and the legislature that this was in their interest to do.

The chareidi public and leaders have been an utter and abject failure at convincing the electorate that this is in their interest. They have maintained it only by coalition leverage. Now that they have no leverage in this government, the fact that they failed to convince the electorate of its importance has made its impact.

Instead of throwing figurative dirty diapers at Lipman and Lapid and Bennet, The Chareidi population needs to ask itself why it did not do what is necessary to convince the electorate; why it instead engaged in coalition politics for decades instead of doing the legwork of making the case for exemptions; and how to accomplish an exponentially harder goal now, when they have squandered time and goodwill for too long.