In his Sunday 25 Iyar 5773 column, Yated Neeman columnist Chaim Waldar addresses the anti-chareidi atmosphere existing in Israel today. He points a finger for the incitement against the chareidi tzibur at Finance Minister Yair Lapid, the head of the Yesh Atid party, comparing the senior minister’s address to one given by Adolph Hitler YS”VZ.
Waldar is accurate in his column when he points to how chareidim in Eretz Yisroel are portrayed in a negative light, explaining how chareidim are constantly bashed by the mainstream media. There has been a delegitimization campaign against the chareidim but the comparison drawn in the column takes the battlefront to new heights, some feel.
In the column Waldar refers to “someone famous” who insisted Jews must begin “productive work” to avoid catastrophe, strikingly similar to today’s epithets heard in an out of Knesset since the general elections. Waldar goes on the clarify that the “someone famous” was Hitler and that while he does not make such a comparison, he points out “…those who hate religion don’t want to physically annihilate chareidim” but these wicked plans do exist regarding basic rights and the effort to strip the chareidim of these rights, including tax benefits and welfare and other assistance, in line with the efforts taking place in the coalition today.
Quoting a column written two years ago by Lapid, Yated writes “Forget ideology; forget that I do not understand how it doesn’t bother you that you live at my expense. I can’t continue paying for it for there is nothing left. I have nothing to give your children and nothing for my own.
Lapid closes that column with a warning, stating “we have to find a way my friend or this will not end well. What does it say in Taanis, ‘friendship or death’” he concludes.
Waldar focuses on that last statement, rhetorically questioning how different that is from the words of Hitler YS”VZ.
Responding to the column with a statement to the media, Lapid’s staff stated “To compare between Lapid, the son of a Holocaust survivor, and the greatest oppressor of the Jews in history, is nothing less than outrageous incitement. We are sorry that instead of addressing the issues, some prefer to take refuge in dangerous incitement.”
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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28 Responses
Godwin’s law.
maybe you’re right but it’s a shame that the only incitement that bothers you is what’s responded to buy the chareidim who r under attack by people who r intent on destroying the chareidi lifestyle yet you are never ever bothered By the incitement from the other side
chaim walder is right with every word he uses. If you keep up with the kind of venomous language and write ups the chilonim have had against the chareidim in the past few years; you’ll understand why we’ve reached a point that our own journalists need to write it out the way it is. Fact is, the hate in eretz yisroel right now and one that has been brewing in the past few years is no less than the atmosphere in germany was pre holocaust. The words and language used and the will to uproot yiddishkeit is visible in everything they say. Its going to be extremely easy for non hebrew speakers that dont know the full details to criticize the language used by walder. Like it has been easy for satmar people living in their comfortable mansions in upstate new york and off section 8 cus by their mazel their grandparents landed on a ship to NY and not to israel after the war, to talk and hock against taking money from the medina. Really???? would they be ready to give up their section 8 from their medina? Are they ready to give 40million dollars each year for the frum school system???? people have landed in eretz yisroel with any connection to chutz learetz and they have to live. That was bashert for them. Same thing with criticizing chaim walder; dont just sit around pledging allegiance and feeling free to practice judaism with not only ur christian neighbors mostly being respectful of ur religion but your bill of rights and consitituion to fully respect it. Where in israel unfortunately today; you have to apologize and always feel a need to prove that were not monkeys. Enough with the chareidim being quiet!!!! We gotta say the truth for it can cost us the yiddishkeit of our children. Only then will they keep quiet cus thats what communists want.
It’s a bigger shame that you presume without warrant.
This Chaim Walder should visit a Holocaust Museum before he shoots his mouth off with shtus.
How dare he compare what the nazis M”S did to what some Israeli politician wants to do..take MONEY from yidden.
What a Bisha and Charpa!
This Walder owes a written and published apology to Holocaust Survivors.
What a tippish.
Drugcommish LA:
where exactly do you live? And how much do you earn every week? And were you ever rejected to a job cus you’re chareidim (if you are). You are ignorant without a clue about what is going on. The issue at hand has little to do with money and mostly to do with preservation of frumkeit; if that bothers you at all. And yes, I guess you haven’t read chiloni articles against chareidim. If you have any background or have ever read articles posted prior to WWII you’ll understand why the comparison.
what ladid wants to do is worse than the nazis. what is worse spiritual or physical destruction ?
there is no doubt that Lapid is using ‘fear and hatred’ to gain support and this is reminiscent of Hitler’s very tactics.
Sadly, it works…
Is the author of Jewish books, Chaim Walder?
Incitement, nastiness and negativity has never won a battle except a ‘hot spot’ in Gehinomim.
chilul Hashem! completely against what the Torah says. Need to go back to the chede r and learn dereach etetz!
Where indeed is the limit? Where’s the limit of YW’s posting editorial as news? Where’s the limit of YW’s pandering to it’s vocal and distinctly non-Yeshivish readership? Where’s the limit to the flagrantly anti daas Torah slant emanating from both your Israel and US desks?
The answer, unfortunately, is that there seems to be no limit.
Thank you Chaim Walder for saying it as it is.
I can’t understand why certain chareidim in EY think its ok to call anyone they dislike a Nazi. Do they not realize that they trivialize what the Nazi YS did to 6 million Yidden every time they abuse that word? Also how can you call another Jew a Nazi?! Is this is what they learn in the Kollelim there?
Joe(geula), HE iS WRONG. I hope the Israeli Chareidim come to their senses the easy way.
Good comparison, but it misses a point. Hitler was never much of a threat to the Jewish people. His was a decree against our bodies, and we can trust Ha-Shem to protect us. As was the case in the time of Mordechai and Esther, the response was to daven and rely on Ha-Shem for salvation, since the decree was ultimately from Ha-Shem, as was the salvation.
Lapid/Bennett is a decree against learning Torah. This is not from Ha-Shamayim, since Ha-Shem would never make a decree against Torah. THe situation is similar to that of the situation when the Greeks (as rules of Syria) and the Misyavanim (today we call them hilonim) made a decree not against the bodies and livlihoods of the Jews, but against Torah and Mitsvos. However we understand that the response in this situation, when “push comes to shove” will end being other than declaring a fast day or davening, but like the Hareidim in the time of the Hashmonayim, we will have to use “this world” methods to opposes this decree (which might be non-violent, such as boycotts, strikes, civil disobedience – but could end up getting messy).
#5 You cant spell shame correctly in Hebrew ,that’s a shame Aned # 2 hes no tippush he is a very deep rasha sonai yisroel . He has no Atid ,nor his group.Just watch the yad hashem
To #6 Geula:
I live in Los Angeles, California. I am the son of Holocaust Survivors. I am named after both of my grandfathers who were destroyed in Auschwitz. My sister is named after both grandmothers who were destroyed in Auschwitz. My parents were young teens when my mother a’h went to Auschwitz (at age 13) and my father fought with the Partisans (at age 15). No other family members survived.
And you have the nerve to complain about not being able to get a job?
You say this is an issue about frumkeit??
Do you need to be paid by a government or anyone else for that matter to be Frum??
Then there is something wrong with you and/or your core beliefs.
I was born frum, I grew up frum, I was frum in Viet Nam in the US Army and I continue to be frum without getting paid by anyone to do so.
What type of work do you do? Do you work or do you shnorr from government or from individuals. Do you know a trade or do you just complain when you don’t get money for complaining?
Dr. Bernard Lander Zatzal correctly stated (to the Satmer Rebbe, Reb Yoel Zatzal) “You are raising a generation of Shnorers. Teach your Yeshiva students a trade.”
No one compared anyone to a Nazi. Language used by an Israeli politician was compared to language and tactics used by Nazis. An the analogy is not faulty.
#15 Every decree is min hashamayim, there are different shelichim each time.
Like I said, its time to ditch the Yated & join Hapeles.
#15- You’ve written many dumb things here, but this takes the cake. Hitler was never a threat to the Jewish people the same way Haman was not?? The threat against the Jewish people by Haman was nullified by HKB”H. That’s certainly true. But have you forgotten that Hitler wiped out half of the Jewish population? Unfortunately, HKB”H chose NOT to protect half of the bodies of Klal Yisrael during the Holocaust.
one doesn’t need to be a “gaon olom” to realize that lapid’s plan are very similar to hitler’s. true, in the 21st century you probably won’t be able to get away with annihilation like you did back in the 1940’s, but believe me, his plans are the same
every time i mention lapid by name, i add “yimach shmo”, so yes, he’s not far off from hitler ym”s
I am with yanky55 on this one. Akuperma what do you mean “Hitler was never much of a threat to the Jewish people”? Tell that to the 6+ million Jews who perished.
Many people opining here have a right to be angry about the current situation. But don’t ever compare it to Hitler and the Natzi’s until businesses are burned down, cemeteries are destroyed, Torahs are burned, and Jews are shot to death on the street. It’s a bad situation, but I believe giving up Torah learning is far better than living in 1938 Germany. Call me all the names you want.
Akuperma, the Jews (who I consider on a very high level) did trust in Hashem during Nazi Germany- the outcome was terrible!
1. Note that Chaim Waldar is hardly a fanatic. He’s very much part of the “establishment”
#23- Do you think the frum Jews had so little faith. Hitler killed a lot of Jews, but the frum Jews (what we now call Hareidim) knew that even if they died, the Torah would survive. Secular Jews (some of whom thought they were frum) gave up in desperation and concluded that “G-d is dead” (a common mid-20th century saying) and focused all their energies on materialistic concerns since to them only “this world” mattered. But the Hareidi world survived. We have faith. We have confidence. While many Jews gave up mitsvos to fight the war, the Bnei Torah saw the real war was best fought through faith in Ha-Shem. World War II is similar to “Purim” – we needed to rely on Ha-Shem.
The situation in Eretz Yisrael is similar to Hanukah. The evil decree is not from Ha-Shem, and requires not tefillah and tseuvah, but action. The people such as those in London whose protests greatly annoy the zionists are to be praised for being no-violent. However those who have suggested that the situation is approach a “Ye-harg bal yaavor” situation are correct, though hopefully it won’t come to it.
Thank you akuperma for expressing what most of us think.
Hashem runs the world in every way.
Pharoh was pharoh because of HKBH.
Haman was haman because of HKBH.
Hitler was hitler because of HKBH.
etc…………………..
Good and bad in the hands of HKBH. We as a generation need to make an major recalculation (GPA) since the leaders of a DOR are depended on the zechusim of the people, & we are in hot water!!!!
Our educational system is messed up. After reading some of the posts here, and in the coffee room, I’m terribly hopeless about the future.
BTW, besides this episode, the charedim really need to grow up. They act like children when they can’t stand people disagreeing with them. Every time someone disagrees with them, they call them Nazis or Hitler. There are plenty of other ways to debate.