Degel's 'Council' Against Liva Studies in Belza: "They Exclude Themselves from the Rule"'

July 1, 2022   

An inevitable collision? The Yated Ne'eman newspaper published a letter on its front page this morning (Friday) from the "Council of Torah Scholars" of the "Degel Hatorah," strengthening the hands of administrators and educators in educational institutions who do not respond to attempts to persuade them to join the Ministry of Education's LIBA study programs - and stating that those who "do so are excluding themselves from the rule.". Safe swimming in the sea: everything you need to know about spending time at the beach This follows the 'deal' that the Belza Hasidic community has made with the Ministry of Education to launch a special program to introduce Bible studies in the schools and the Torah Talmuds of the court - in exchange for full funding. As first revealed in Haredim 10, several large Hasidic communities are already in talks with the Ministry of Education to join the new funding program, ahead of the start of the school year. Under the title "On the Preservation of Pure Education," the members of the 'Council' are addressing the administrators of the Torah Talmuds: "It is not permitted to change the order of study in the Torah Talmuds that has been practiced until now, and to withdraw from the existing frameworks, and God forbid to breach their boundaries." In the letter, the members of the 'Council' write: "Those who do so exclude themselves from the rule, and of course one should not tell the authorities that they supposedly want to make some change, even if you do not really intend to change, and there is great harm and blasphemy in this." The rabbis address the public of administrators with blessings and warnings: "Strengthen and strive to stand up for the preservation of education in its purity, to educate the children of Israel as young, holy sheep To the Torah and the mitzvot, and not to the hours for claims of additional budgets, and especially given that according to the current situation, administrators may behave independently in relation to the government, and the temptation is very great, and after all, our role is to educate in the way that has been handed down from generation to generation, and this is in our hearts, and when educators without any change from the tradition of generations receive special divine assistance for success, and this is the reality." [Gallery] To the educators who considered leaving in favor of working in a state-Haredi institution, where the salary is double - they address: "Know that your right is very great... and you should read the Bible and the vindicators of the many as stars forever and ever. "And indeed, there is also a livelihood in this, but we must know and remember that livelihood is not the goal, but the goal is the vindication of the many, and livelihood is the means to the vindication of the many. On the contrary, livelihood comes from heaven, and only when one acts according to the Torah do one receive success and the immense privileges of the great ones, for all the good deeds of the influenced and their descendants belong to the influenced, and whoever educates others also receives a measure of divine assistance for the well-being of his family." The article published alongside the letter from the 'Council' states: "The members of the Council of Torah Elders, headed by the Rishvad G, the Maran Rosh Ha-Yeshiva, have issued a firm instruction: 'It is not permitted to change the order of study in the Torah schools and to withdraw from the existing frameworks, and those who do so exclude themselves from the rule.'" The report further states: "These words are written in a special reading by the 'Council of Torah Elders' following the dangerous destructive project of the ministers of finance and education in the outgoing government, which constitutes a serious harm to the Haredi education system.".