Monday night is Independence Day, and for those who are not part of the Haredi community, you are undoubtedly wondering how Haredim look at it. Here's a nice piece which - in my humble opinion - reflects pretty accurately
how Haredim feel about Independence Day.
Who cares whether the Haredim wave the Israeli flag on Yom HaAtzmaut
or not? Who is going to dictate what constitutes loyalty and script the
text? In America, we don't judge a citizen's loyalty to the State by
whether he is a flag-waver or not. In a world where so many secular
Israelis consider themselves post-Zionists or by some other new title,
we need to come up with broader definitions of what it means to be a
proud member of the State of Israel as a vehicle that serves the Jewish
nation. If we set the bar too high, we make it unfairly and
unnecessarily uncomfortable for whole groups to say that they belong. We
shoot ourselves in the foot with our elitist and outdated attitudes.
Non-Haredim have to invite the Haredim to become a part of the
healthy (and always passionate) debate about what this State should look
like, instead of having them look in as outsiders. Haredim have to
become more comfortable with the facts of their situation and not to
fight the battles of yesteryear. Non-Haredim should nurture and
facilitate trends toward work and army that are happening, instead of
making easy political capital by trying to solve it in one fell swoop
with legislation. Haredim should continue to value Torah-study above
all, but ensure that they have the means to support their values.
Non-Haredim should remember that for 2,000 years it was almost
exclusively Haredim who kept a continuous presence on this land, often
at the expense of their lives. Haredim should know the sacrifices that
our non-Haredim brethren have made to hand us the wonderful gift of this
country. Non-Haredim should tap into that deep love of Israel -- of its
land and its people -- that Haredim have in spades.
Come my brother: You are a Jew and so am I. Let us hold hands and
begin to talk! L'chaim to this wonderful people and its magnificent
country. I have never regretted the 33 years that I have felt this was
my home!
Read the whole thing.
Well, my dear, it is so off, so off-putting, SO OFFENSIVE, to read on Yom HaZikaron something that ends with a Le-Chaim!!
ReplyDeleteI guess that is the best illustration of how the charedi are not part of today's Am Israel, but still live in some European Ghetto, where they don't know, don't care, whatever, that today we spend our day visiting graves and thinking about the MANY dear ones that WE lost, and that YOU DID NOT.
Shame on you and all those who do not even have the basic DEREKH ERETS to respect OTHER PEOPLE'S MOURNING.
I guess some people's blood is better than some others', in a world where people call sheigetz the good Jews who do not wear black goishe clothing from XVI Century Poland, and shiksa good Jewish women who don't fit your ignorant world of chumrah.
This time, intentionally or not, you really overdid it.