""They hold seminars for academics, bringing in academics is difficult... 'What do I need you to tell me,' but what? When they come, they repent... And you think that in an academic seminar you give people different material than what is given to the people? Exactly the same. Only to an academic you have to explain for eight hours because of the barrier of intelligence and pride that hinders them, and to your people - for two hours. That's all." [Rabbi Amnon Yitzhak, 28.2.2010].
In Rabbi Yitzhak's words lies a great truth that is simple in its sharpness: there is no difference in the technique of returning to repentance among those engaged in "Kirov" - who belong to the Haredi community - between the rabbis and between the various communities.
In other words: There is really no difference between Rabbi Mordechai Neugerschel, for that matter, and Rabbi Amnon Yitzhak. The nature of the lecture, the form of presentation, perhaps even the interaction with the audience is individual, but the texts are the same. The material is based on the same foundations.
Basic questions such as proof of the creation of the world by God, Torah and science, fulfilled prophecies, God and the Holocaust, Haredim and the army, reward and punishment, reincarnation, Messiah and the resurrection of the dead, etc. are treated identically by all those who repent. The perception of Judaism, and the place of God among the rabbis of 'Erke', does not differ conceptually from that found among the rabbis of 'Shofar'. Dealing with the theory of evolution does not change between the rabbis of 'Or Chaim' and the rabbis of 'Yiddhar'.
This Haredi perspective differs from other Jewish perspectives. Rabbi Uri Sharki of the Meir Institute, for example, will present arguments and statements that are different from those of his Haredi colleagues. So too will religious thinkers and philosophers from various Orthodox and neo-Orthodox schools who are not necessarily Haredi.
Who is right? It is difficult, if not impossible, to know. However, when the discussion is about the realm of 'repentance' that comes from Haredi sources, it is important to remember that at the end of the day, everyone speaks with one voice. One cannot belittle a particular rabbi for the 'superficiality of his arguments', or appreciate another rabbi for the depth of his words, since the basic concept is the same. The same words that one rabbi says in lofty words, and in terminology taken from the academic field, the other rabbi says with humor and laughter. That is all the difference.
If you chose to belittle the level of the arguments of a 'popular' rabbi, you have knocked the ground out from under the feet of the 'intelligent' rabbi. At the end of the day, they say exactly the same things. Doesn't suit you? Look for new perceptions of Judaism. In the Haredi space, if that's where you chose to live, the perception of Judaism and dealing with opposing arguments are completely identical.
Who cares?. The passing of President Yitzhak Navon, the release of Yehovantan Pollard, the massacre of 129 civilians in Paris, are part of a cruel statistic that throws the most important news into the media trash can, and teaches something about the hollowness of human responsibility.
When former President Navon returned his soul to his Creator, for example, everyone knew in the first minutes of his death that his media hours were numbered. His death didn't really interest or sadden anyone, and the morning after, it can be stated that no one remembered that there were several moments when interest was generated in his death.
Yehovan Pollard was released, the president, the prime minister and other figures rushed to congratulate the spy who sacrificed 30 years of his life for the country, but no one really cared. After a few hours and the first pictures, he lost interest. He sat inside for 30 years, now he's out. It's over. Who cares.
So too is the murder of 129 French citizens, or even the deaths of Jews in 'standard' terrorist attacks in Israel.
No one cares, and the chatter is so fake that the only question left is why no one stands up and says out loud what everyone is thinking: We don't really care. We don't really hurt.
And by the way, our second cousin Michael's wedding is today at 8:00 AM at the Royal Palace? How are you getting there, do you have room in the car?
The new leader. The Rabbi Yosef Breuer Foundation in New York has published the commentary of Rabbi Hirsch on the Torah in a new translation. Why is a new translation needed? What is the disadvantage of the Yitzhak Breuer Foundation's publication from 1974? The answer is given by the editors in their introduction to the Pentateuch: the academic language that not everyone is accustomed to.
So here is the Rabbi Hirsch presented in a more 'popular' language, perhaps more 'ultra-Orthodox', but the interpretations - the same interpretations.
A welcome initiative that glorifies the memory of the great teacher, and yet, I prefer the old black volumes, the commentary with the small black letters on the one hand, and the finer ones on the other, which were translated and edited by Prof. Mordechai Breuer.
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