Yesterday I received a message from a friend who works for a living as a communications consultant. "Tell me," he asked, "what's the story now with Rabbi Cohen's letter? Is this another move by Deri against Adina Bar Shalom?""
""I believe this is a 'promo' for a new 'rabbinical committee' that will be established soon," I answered him.
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This week, alongside the widespread media attention on "bringing the boys home," there were those who tried to launch a "bringing the girls home" campaign. The headlines on Haredi websites were abuzz with the publication of a letter from the president of the Council of Elders, Hacham Shalom Cohen, about the strict prohibition on studying at Haredi colleges.
Headline followed headline, interpretations and speculation flourished at every turn, and surprise, astonishment, and even embarrassment accompanied the Shas leaders and the 'continuators of Rabbi Ovadia's legacy.'.
It's no secret that Rabbi Ovadia Yosef strongly supported the establishment of Haredi colleges and the granting of academic degrees to women. The Maran himself often participated in degree-granting ceremonies, praising the women who 'came to study at the academy in order to support their families with dignity and so that their husbands could sit and study Torah in peace.'.
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So what, then, is behind the publication of the letter?
It turns out that once again greedy businessmen are willing to do anything to 'maintain the purity of the camp,' even at the cost of disrespecting the Torah scholars and belittling the concept of 'Torah knowledge.'.
This is not the first time that a 'holy reading' or a 'halachaic ruling' has been published in public, funded by strategy and advertising agencies.
The exercise is simple: come up with a business exit, look for 'ideological problems' in the existing product, prepare a letter that describes the given situation in a terrible way, sign (possibly even virtually) all the greats of the generation, flood the streets with black and white ads, with white Kiddush letters - that scream about the 'terrible spiritual danger' (when the more descriptions, the better) - and voila!
Within a month, a new 'Rabbinic Committee for...' is established, whose role is to approve (exclusively) the new product, which is of course adapted to the wisdom of Torah scholars.
Simple, easy, and most importantly - profitable!
As a senior advertiser once said: "The Haredi public is committed to Torah knowledge, and the best way to market to the product sector is under the umbrella of Torah knowledge.".
This is how the 'Spiritual Committee for Media Affairs' was established, which granted exclusivity to the 'Miras' company for two years, and this is how all the business companies that make millions, such as 'Atra Kadisha' and the like, were established - which charge 'sponsorship fees' from contractors in exchange for a 'kashrut stamp' and the prevention of well-publicized demonstrations against 'grave desecration' in the construction complex.
This time too, a group of activists tried to establish a 'spiritual committee for academic affairs.' They built a strategic plan, already designed the logo for the fancy kashrut seal - and set off to sew suits.
But they were not smart enough to understand that it was too late: thousands of Haredi women were already taking up academic positions at the behest of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef. They were investing in their studies with the goal of providing for their families with dignity, so that their husbands could continue to labor in the tent of Torah.
The letter that was published (the letter was sent in response to a private question to the director of a seminary in Bnei Brak) will probably have no impact, not because it is not Torah knowledge, but because the activists tried to turn a private letter into a 'teaching for the masses', and in doing so they brought contempt to scholars of Torah knowledge and disparagement of true Torah knowledge.
The time has come for the Haredi sector to expel from itself the groups of activists who use the public to fulfill their personal and business whims, and who are not ashamed to disrespect the great men of the generation and the rulings of halakhah, in order to legitimize business moves under the auspices of 'concern for the purity of the camp.'.
We must tell them in their own language: 'Unclean – get out of our tent!''
