[Be-Ahavah U-Be-Emunah – Vayeshev
5774 – translated by R. Blumberg]
Love the
Charedim as yourself.
The first
reason: Obviously, they too are Jews. Loving your fellow Jew means loving the
entire Jewish People and not just those similar to you. You don’t need a Torah
source for this. It’s natural. Torah sources serve where the act does not come
naturally, but requires in depth analysis and effort.
The second
reason: Charedim means Torah: Torah learning, Torah observance, devotion to
Torah. When they talk, it’s based on Torah. Even if they err, for example,
regarding Zionism, it’s based on Torah. They’re not like the secular, whose
starting point is not Torah. So the Charedim are closer to us than are the
secular. We and the Charedim share precisely the same goal. Our argument has to
do with the means, the path. The secular, however, have a different goal. Obviously,
deep in their souls their goal is the same, but they express themselves about a
different goal.
Therefore,
even though the Charedim oppose Zionism, they still contribute a great deal to
it through the vigilance they maintain. One requires a bit of expansive
thinking to understand this, but let us avail ourselves of Maran Ha-Rav Avraham
Yitzchak Ha-Cohain Kook’s words to his disciple, Dr. Moshe Zeidel, who had
complaints against the Charedim: “Those innocent Charedim, who in the depths of
the purity of their hearts opposed Zionism, are the very same people who
refined it and removed a large part of its dross, until they brought it,
through their negative actions, to such a level as being worthy to dress it in
practical, royal attire, rather than the spirit of the House of Israel just
dispersing it.” They, for their part, have “a sort of heartfelt protest based
on their sensing the great light of the soul” (Igrot Ha-Re'eiyah 3:156)
Some say
that Maran Ha-Rav Kook and Rabbenu Ha-Rav Tzvi Yehudah Kook loved the secular
more than they loved the Charedim. Nonsense! They loved everybody! Rav Tzvi
Yehudah said that learning the proper attitude to the secular, whom he defines
as “our friends-opponents,” continues: “From here we must learn by a logical
process the special value and need of correcting our relationship with parts of
our public who are within our camp, and who are equal partners with us in
maintaining a vigil on Torah and Mitzvot in the rebirth of Israel and the
return to their land. From the nature of those far removed we learn the nature
of those close (Le-Netivot Yisrael 2:227).
Therefore,
let us not teach the Charedim to love the secular. Let us not teach the
Charedim to love the State of Israel or the Israeli army. Rather, let us teach
ourselves to love the Charedim.
The third
reason: Amongst the Charedim are Torah scholars whom must be related to with
reverence and fear. The Talmud in Sanhedrin says that whoever denigrates a
Torah scholar is deemed a heretic. The Jerusalem Talmud teaches that it’s like
a dome made of stones. If one removes one stone, i.e., if one harms a single
Torah scholar, the entire roof falls down. G-d does not forgive those who harm
Torah scholars.
Therefore,
love your friend as yourself, including the Charedim.
They are
classified as your “friend” in every way. As Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto wrote,
“The Torah goes ahead and makes a general rule that includes everybody: ‘Love
your neighbor as yourself.’ This means ‘as yourself,’ without any difference;
‘as yourself, without any differences, without tricks and plots, literally ‘as
yourself’”. (Mesillat Yeshaim 11).
