Sunday, June 9, 2013

Without much comment . . . Should one attend the Demonstration today in Manhattan?

There is a demonstration that will take place  in Manhattan today, organized primarily by the Satmar community, to protest the proposed actions of the Israeli government regarding the Hareidi Yeshivot.

I am not going to comment at this point on my view regarding this demonstration.   I only want to record here the circus that is being put on by those claiming to report on what "Da'as Torah" is on this issue.

Letter #1 allegedly from Rav Chaim Kanievsky, שליט"א - one should not attend the demonstration

Letter #2 allegedly from Rav Chaim Kanievsky, שליט"א - one should attend the demonstration

Letter from Rav Shmuel Kaminetsky שליט"א - one should not attend the demonstration

Letter from Rav Dovid Soloveichik שליט"א  - one should attend the demonstration

Letter from the combined Lakewood Roshei Yeshiva  שליט"א  - one should not attend the demonstration

Letter from Rav Eliyahu Ber Wachtfogel  שליט"א - one should attend the demonstration

I also note for the record that I was in Yeshivas Chaim Berlin on Thursday, and there was a sign posted on the door in the name of the Hanhalah encouraging the talmidim to attend.

What is a person who is serious about Da'as Torah to do?    I don't know.  Other than to pray hard:

השיבה שופטינו כבראשונה, ויועצנו כבתחילה, והסר ממנו
 יגון ואנחה, ומלוך עלינו אתה יי לבדך בחסד וברחמים וצדקינו בצדק ובמשפט

Restore our judges as in former times, and our counsellors as of yore; remove from us sorrow and sighing, and reign over us, You alone, O L-rd, with kindness and compassion, with righteousness and justice

PS - A statement from the Rabbinical Council of America, which I think is a bit over the top as the demonstration is not about support for Israel but rather the new government attitude to the Hareidi community, but nevertheless:

PRESS RELEASE:
RCA Statement Concerning Ultra-Orthodox Anti-Israel Rally in New York
The Rabbinical Council of America Condemns Ultra-Orthodox Anti-Israel Rally   
The Rabbinical Council of America (RCA), the largest Orthodox rabbinic group in North America, deplores the attempt of a small but vocal group to undermine the image Americans have of strong, unshakeable, wall-to-wall Jewish support of Israel. Two chassidic communities well known for their rejection of a Jewish state have agreed to a joint rally in Manhattan on Sunday, June 9.

Rabbi Shmuel Goldin, RCA President, said, "It is an insult to the memory of the Satmar Rov, ob"m, that his disciples a generation later would take to the streets to publicly aid the many enemies who stand ready to destroy, G-d forbid, the Jewish State - and all Jews. For all his well-known opposition to a secular state, he always put the protection of Jewish lives first. It is unthinkable that as the largest Jewish community in the world deals with a nuclear threat from Iran, a military front opening with Syria, and the mushrooming of global anti-Semitism, that he would have countenanced aiding and abetting our enemies."

Rabbi Mark Dratch, Executive Vice President of the RCA, added, "We call on all Jews, Orthodox and not, to redouble their efforts to explain to their fellow Americans their commitment to the Jewish State and its central position in their thinking, even when they find fault with certain positions of its government, as happens with the policies of any true democracy."


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