Wednesday, October 29, 2025 Isolationism is Not the Solution

“I am not Israeli. I am a Jew living in Eretz Yisroel.”

This was said by a respected, mainstream Charedi Talmid Chacham and Posek of Anglo extraction about how he viewed his tenure in Israel. It was forwarded to me by a friend who had a discussion with him about the responsibility of Charedi Jews toward the larger Jewish society in Israel. The debate centered on the Charedi rejection of army service. This Posek seemed to feel that he had no obligation to a community he did not consider himself a part of.

He in fact believes that the proper approach for a Jew living in Israel is to completely cut themselves off from Israeli society, which he sees as having nothing to do with authentic Judaism. He takes the adage ‘A People Apart’ to a new level. Which means excluding even his own people. He would be quite content to never have any interaction with ‘Israelis’ and if he never saw another secular Israeli again in his life, that would be too soon for him.

I have no doubt that he believes with complete faith that this is what God wants. That we must separate ourselves from the non-Jewish ways of the secular world. And that complete isolation from them is the best way to do that,. Thereby staying in the “safe space” of the daled amos of Halacha. What goes on in the ‘outside world’ doesn’t concern him, and is a best a distraction. The ‘outside world’ has nothing to do with him — unless it somehow penetrates his ‘safe space’ and threatens to disrupt it. Then he becomes not only a Jew living in Israel, but a Jew on a warpath to fortify that ‘safe space’ and prevent the outside world from entering.

Zionism - even religious Zionism - lies outside his ‘safe space’ and must be fought with the same vigor as secular Zionism. ‘What’, he would ask, ‘do Charedim have to do with Zionism?’

All that being said, I am 100% certain that he is otherwise a decent, caring man who would give you the shirt off his back if he thought you needed it. He is not the confrontational type and would probably run away from conflict. And is surely a beloved figure in his community.

Therein lies the problem. Second tier leadership like his is the prototype of what is wrong with much of today’s Charedi world. This second-tier leader simply reflects what his superior, elderly rabbinic leaders believe which they consider Daas Torah. No matter how they might personally feel, they suppress those feelings in deference to what they perceive as the greater wisdom of those they consider greater than themselves.

As a beloved figure, his attitude is easily transmitted as the true Hashkafa of the Torah - to the exclusion of every other Hashkafa.

The result is disastrous for the Jewish people. (This Posek might call me an Apikores for saying something like that, but that doesn’t make it any less true.)

The very last thing God wants from His people is for any segment to cut themselves off from the rest. No matter how strongly they might disagree.

First of all, to cut oneself off from other religious Jews who have a different outlook on Zionism - one that has a strong basis in Halacha - is an exercise in Sinas Chinam. You can disagree. Even strongly. Even if that disagreement means protesting a government edict they support, you must still respect a view that is based on a Torah Hashkafa. The last thing one should do is to cut oneself from other religious Jews

But even cutting themselves off from secular Jews — whether Zionist or not — is wrong. Cutting oneself off from the rest of Jewry in order to insulate oneself from their way of life is precisely why the Tzadikim – the righteous men of the generation of the destruction of Beis HaMedrash were killed. They failed to reach out to the ‘secular’ Jews of their time to show them the right way to live as Jews. Instead, they looked inward and let the masses drift as they pleased. Even if they would not have succeeded, they were required to try!

In the case of this Posek, his attitude is one of the primary motivations for aredi opposition to the draft. They fear that the interaction will go the opposite way — that it will influence their people to become less observant, or not observant at all. What, they ask, do we have to do with them? Let them go their way, and we’ll stay in the safe space of our own daled amos.

He says he’s not Israeli?! He may not think so, but he is. He is every bit an Israeli as I am an American If he carries an Israeli passport, votes in Israeli elections, speaks mostly in Ivrit (Hebrew), belongs to Israel’s national health insurance program (Kupat Cholim), or in any way benefits from his status as an Israeli citizen then he an Israeli. Being Israeli or American does not preclude one from being a Jew in every sense of the word.

I’m sure what he meant to convey is that he does not participate in any of the culture associated with Israelis — which he considers anti-Torah. Well, no religious Jew would be involved with anti-Torah activity. But not everything Israeli - is anti-Torah. And not every Israeli is anti-religious.

In fact, the opposite is true. Most Israelis are traditional — meaning that even though they may not fully observe Halacha, they care enough about their Judaism to participate in many of its practices: keeping kosher, fasting on Yom Kippur, refraining from chametz on Pesach, and so on. They may not know the details of Halacha and may err in their observance, but the point is that they are anything but anti-religious.

What they have become, however, is anti-Charedi. Ever since the war in Gaza called upon Israelis to participate in defending their country - Charedim have vehemently refused to do at any level (with some minuscule exceptions). Resentment has grown. What was once tolerance for the Charedi way of life has turned into unprecedented hostility among increasing numbers of secular and even some religious Zionist Jews.

This Posek’s attitude explains why, and it only serves to exacerbate that divide even further. As will the following – as reported in the Times of Israel:

A planned massive “million man” Haredi prayer rally against IDF conscription slated for Thursday is expected to block the main entrance to Jerusalem for hours and cause major congestion in the capital, police say.

Making matters worse is another - related incident that happened:

Several ultra-Orthodox men twice interrupt proceedings at the High Court of Justice dealing with military conscription enforcement for their community, shouting in the courtroom against the enlistment of ultra-Orthodox yeshivas students.

At least two of the protesters shout “We’d rather die than enlist,” a common ultra-Orthodox anti-enlistment slogan, before being ejected from the courtroom by court security guards who handcuff at least one of the men.

So instead of showing secular and religious Zionist Jews the ‘pleasant ways of the Torah’, they are showing everyone how self-centered they are and how little they seem to care for anyone else. Even as the sacrifices made by so many IDF soldiers have ended in tragedy for themselves and their families!

As much as I might otherwise tolerate the views of someone I so profoundly disagree with, an attitude like his - achieves the opposite for me. Even though it is based on his sincere belief that this is what God wants - it makes me intolerant.

I can’t help but worry that attitudes like his - rooted in the teachings of his mentors - will lead to the destruction of us all.