We are told by the American fearing (as opposed to
G-d fearing) clique that presently holds the reins of power in the State of
Israel that it’s time to share the burden of living in a modern state. In EmunahSpeak:
Sharing the Burden we endeavored to explain where the real burden (aka responsibility)
lies, but simply stating the truth of the matter doesn’t by itself change the
facts on the ground. And those facts
have teeth and they are about to bite.
We’ll leave it to others to lament the wickedness of
it all.
Suffice it to say that however practical, useful,
and benign some of the proposals emanating from the ruling clique appear to be by
way of a cursory look, (a clique whose ignorance of what’s truly critical for
the security of theYishuv in Eretz Yisroel is only exceeded by its collective and
insufferable gaiva), a long hard stare will show that the impetus behind it all is
not some Pollyannaish notion of how to set things right for the greater good of
all. Nor is it something that speaks to
our time as if it were the call of the hour.
The truth is that the Passion Play that was written,
produced, and now directed by the aforementioned group is, most likely unbeknownst
to them, but one more installment in the 250 year running scandal which has
seen a majority of the Jews in every generation, beginning first in Western Europe
and then moving east, spit in Hashem’s Face and say it’s been nice, but it’s time to move on.
And this latest installment tracks very nicely with
chapter one which saw the assimilationist Jews in late 18th Century
Austria petition the Emperor Joseph II to draft the Jews in to the army and
force them to create schools that would teach the State curriculum in exchange
for equal rights. The Emperor was only
too happy to accommodate two out of the three demands. The equal rights didn’t put in an appearance until
close to eighty years later.
Déjà vu, no?
In each
and every generation they rise up against us to destroy us. And destroying doesn’t necessarily mean by violence. As we have seen these past two and half
centuries it can done civically just as effectively and more often than not it’s
an inside job.
The good news, of course, is that the Holy One, blessed be He, rescues
us from their hands.
Reduced to its lowest common
denominator the story is as follows:
We are told that citizenship in
the Jewish State requires a level playing field as far as army participation and
education are concerned so that we can all be on same page. That’s essentially the sales pitch.
But something is missing here commensurate
with a political version of 3 Card Monte.
In the seemingly innocuous claim of
equality, level playing fields, and the like something has been left out of the
equation.
What happened to the Jewish half of the Jewish State?
Where exactly are the balance,
equality, and that proverbial level playing field anyway?
And we’re not talking here about
some proposed cosmetic kefira additions to the general secular curriculum that
are worse than worthless.
Had we been secure enough in our
learning and hashkafa, wouldn’t it have been nice if instead of hunkering down
in the bunker we could have flipped the challenge back in their face by
pointing out the incongruity of their conception of equality, and shared
responsibilities by saying, yes, we’ll let your people come in an teach our kids math and
science if you let our people (not yours) teach your kids a core curriculum of
basic Judaism created by us (not you)?
It wouldn’t happen to be sure,
but had we been internally strong enough to make that rebuttal it would have
been a Kiddush Hashem, and their hypocritical reaction thereto would have
exposed the proposed social revolution for the fraud that it is.
It was an opportunity lost.
