The following opinion expressed by the Bostoner Rebbe of Yerushalayim Shlita is in response to the Op-Ed by Yair Lapid that appeared on YWN.
To balance the views expressed in YWN I have been asked to respond and do so as follows:
In agreement with the Op-Ed By Yair Lapid on the Betrayal of the Intellectual
How amazed we should be that the Torah and religious world would agree with anything that Mr Yair Lapid would write.
We too, face the Betrayal of the Intellectual, but we must add that too many Israel, American and European intellectuals have taken moral relativism to its absurd extreme, falling back upon the ‘validity of every narrative’ and repeating the mantra that ‘every story has two sides.’ They treat those who have a clear moral stance as primitive, especially those whose moral stance is based on the Jewish Religion.
Now it is the turn of Mr. Lapid to realize his mistake in believing that “intellectuals” were the ones who helped us differentiate between good and evil, between right and wrong, between justice and injustice” to give us “absolute truth”. Do you see your own reflection in your words, “The debate wasn’t over feelings but the essence of truth”?
The Jewish people survive only because of the absolute truths as determined in the Torah, given to Moshe Rabbeinu at Sinai.
Do you realize your mistaken concept that there is a category of people who are ‘enlightened’? For you write, “The betrayal of the intellectuals was especially noticeable during the days of the operation in Gaza”. You continue “ostensibly, there should be no question as to who ‘enlightened people’ should support; the side of the western democracy, governed by the rule of law, which warns civilians before striking legitimate terrorist targets”.
You go on to criticize pseudo intellectuals by stating “But those (misguided) intellectuals see it differently. For them, they have turned suffering into the only measure of justice”.
You fault that ‘these intellectuals’ “betrayed themselves because they refuse to answer … questions” and you conclude by stating that the Hamas views these intellectuals as “a tool, to be used and to be mocked”.
As one who claims to lead the so called Israel intellectualism, you Mr. Lapid must realize that intellectualism is the thoughts of people as formulated by others, which changes in every generation according to the whims and personal needs of people who live under circumstances which cause them to redefine absolute truth to suit their style of life.
Yes, the world has a hatred of the Jews which causes them to be as you state “committed to killing Jews”, yes you made a slip of the (pen) tongue writing the above. Realize that this is the truth. All of us Jews, even those who only refer to themselves as “Israelis” are Jews, and will remain the symbol of truth to a world largely bereft of truth. The Jewish people’s only path to survival is to follow the “absolute truth of Torah and Judaism”. This is our purpose in life. Realize that nothing can be done to change what the entire world recognizes Jews represent, which is “absolute truth” i.e. Torah.
Hopefully, you too, will now comprehend this and rather than fight to “enlighten” the Israeli public, you will follow the light emanating from “absolute truth” so that we Jews, may all unite and merit the salvation that the Torah and Prophets of Israel have foreseen.
NOTE: The views expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of YWN.
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6 Responses
To the Bostoner Rebbi:
Thank you very much for all your effort and all your time to prepare and write this letter. You never know, maybe one day Mr. Yair Lapid will wake up and do Teshuva.
I don’t even understand his point… its just opposition for the sake of opposition… because people couldn’t deal with the fact that Yair Lapid said something correct that we all agree with.
Heres the news. What Yair Lapid said was correct, and that’s OK!
with all due respect… why should it be shocking that frum ppl agree with lapid when he says something sensible? we know chochma bagoyim taamin – why should he be worse? he seems to be an intelligent man and there may be a lot we can all learn from him. certainly frum people are the quintessential chachomim and we are gladly lomeid miKOL adam…
I am no fan of Yair Lapid, but I have serious doubts as to whether the Rebbe Shlit”a actually wrote this piece. It appears to be based on a superficial reading of Lapid’s article, and doesn’t make the cogent points that the articulate Rebbe Shlit”a characteristically makes. Several examples:
– Lapid is a former journalist, not an academic, who has never claimed to “lead the so called Israel intellectualism” – in fact, he never even finished high school because of a learning disability. This is widely known in Israel.
The above article states: “Yes, the world has a hatred of the Jews which causes them to be as you state “committed to killing Jews” — as if this is a chidush that Lapid just awoke to. In fact, Lapid stated only that Hamas is committed to killing Jews. Moreover, those familiar with Lapid’s statements and activities know that he has always been aware of worldwide antisemitism, which he learned from his anti-religious father and mentor Tommy.
The article states that “intellectualism is the thoughts of people as formulated by others” — surely a better definition could be offered.
For these and other reasons that space doesn’t permit, I believe it is highly unlikely that the Rebbe Shlit”a penned this piece.
Extremely respectful and awe inspiring response.
#2 #3
(When you find yourself somehow in agreement with say, the mafia, or hamas ,would that a symptom of something wrong?)
To paraphrase Kahane:
We’re probably in graver trouble if they/he are supporting ,than if they oppose us