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LETTERS





                                               TO THE

                                EDITOR



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      Familiarity and fellowship           ground between the Religious Zionist and   Charedi discourse about non-Jews often goes
                                           Charedi communities. Credit to the editors   in a very different direction. One prominent
      I VERY MUCH enjoyed your recent issue (Vol.   for attempting to minimize dispute and   Charedi rabbi in New York told an audience
      5, No. 3) analyzing various aspects of the Reli-  enhance unity. In particular, Rabbi Aryeh   that theft from gentiles is not inherently
      gious Zionist–Charedi divide. The dedication   Meir deserves praise for a very impressive   forbidden and is only a problem when it
      on the cover to Kurt Rothschild was partic-  and honest self-critical article about his   involves a chillul Hashem. Rabbi Dan Kesten-
      ularly appropriate. Kurt was the President   Charedi world. We could all learn to follow   baum’s Olam HaMiddot, overall a very fine
      of World Mizrachi and a staunch supporter   his model.                    sefer, says that all the compassionate acts
      of myriad Zionist causes but also played a                                performed by gentiles are truly inauthentic
      leading role in the establishment and support   Despite these positives, I found myself   and self-serving (p.174). The popular Bilvavi
      of Charedi institutions throughout Israel and   deeply unsatisfied with the issue. Efforts   Mishkan Evneh by Rabbi Itamar Schwartz
      the world. I’m sure Kurt would have been   at fostering unity can gloss over differences   shares the same assumption (p.119). The
      proud of your efforts to understand and   of immense significance. Two groups may   implications of tzelem Elokim remain quite
      bridge the Charedi–Religious Zionist gap.  utilize the identical term but mean vastly
                                           different things by it. For example, Rabbanit   distinct for different communities.
      There is a fascinating social process unfold-  Shani Taragin cites Rebbetzin Tzipporah   Rabbi Moshe Taragin and Rabbi Moshe Taub
      ing in Israel today. The Zionist bona fides   Heller-Gottlieb saying that religious women
      of the Jerusalem College of Technology   in different communities could learn the   both write about joint efforts to filter out
                                                                                negative elements of broader culture. As I
      (Machon Lev) are so strong that its found-  value of tzniut from Charedim. If tzniut refers
      ing charter included the requirement that   to humility and avoiding the hyper-sexual-  have written against television, Friends,
      all students and staff serve in the IDF. Nev-  ization of the contemporary western world,   and Facebook discourse, I obviously agree.
      ertheless, nearly half of JCT’s students are   then yes. However, I would insist that this   However, how one phrases this matters. Do
      Charedim and the college has created special   value apply to men as well as women, that   we depict the outside world as an essentially
      programs to enable Charedim to achieve high   it not focus primarily on sleeve lengths,   negative forum which occasionally provides
      level academic training in an environment   and that it not serve as a reason to erase   some helpful practical knowledge or do we
      that fosters positive interactions between   women’s pictures from magazines or build   view it as a complex place that has some
      the  Charedi  and  non-Charedi  religious   shul women’s sections where women feel   excellent elements as well? The broader
      worlds that will enable them to become   totally removed from the tefillah. Further-  world of great literature provides consistent
      an increasingly important part of Israel’s   more, most Religious Zionists will not accept   insight and inspiration. Some values adapted
      high-tech and healthcare systems. The aca-  Rav Elya Svei’s claim that men’s essential   from the outside world have not threatened
      demic training of Charedim enhances the   mitzvah is Torah study whereas women’s is   but rather enhanced our community. For
      economics of the State of Israel and fosters   tzniut. Once we enter all those caveats, do   example, we learned from the larger soci-
      a familiarity and fellowship that connects   the two communities truly share this ideal?         ety that all communal buildings should be
      these communities.                                                        handicapped accessible. More controversial
                                           Rabbi Reuven Taragin quotes Rabbi Aharon   influences such as feminism have also had
      Prof. Chaim Sukenik                  Lichtenstein stating that our basic affinity   positive impact; greater secular education for
      President, Jerusalem College of Technology    is with others who share categories such   women brought along more women connect-
      Jerusalem, Israel                    as tzelem Elokim. For me, one of the crucial   ing to talmud Torah. Of course, some forms
                                           aspects of tzelem Elokim is its universality. G-d   of feminism challenge our tradition and we
                                           formed all of humanity in His image; there-  should discuss the positives and negatives.
      Points for consideration
                                           fore, we should relate to gentiles as people of   Thus, our description and evaluation of the
      THE RECENT EDITION of HaMizrachi (Vol.   immense moral and religious potential and   outside world will differ greatly from our
      5, No. 3) nobly endeavors to find common   always treat them with decency and dignity.   Charedi counterparts.


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