Media personality Aryeh Erlich, editor of 'Mishpacha' magazine, published a scathing column against MK Yitzhak Goldknopf's stormy remarks about bereavement in the national-religious public.
In an interview with Makor Rishon's political correspondent Akiva Weiss, the MK from Hassidut Gur said about religious Zionism: "Their pain will be with them and our pain will be with us. Don't bring me your pain and pass it on to me. Let's decide that everyone has their own package."
In his column, Ehrlich wrote:
I am ashamed and embarrassed by the words said by my representative in the Knesset, MK Yitzhak Goldknopf, in an interview with Makor Rishon. I literally bury my head in shame in the face of opaque and so un-Jewish quotes such as 'Don't throw your pain at us,' 'Each one and his own package,' and other alienating statements of this kind, which contradict everything our sages taught us about Israel's plight, and that when a Jew is in sorrow - the Holy Shekhinah cries and says, 'Lift me from my head, lift me from my arms.' And when Moses our Lord was free from the burden of slavery in Egypt because he was of the tribe of Levi - he nevertheless came down to see the suffering of his brothers and truly feel their pain.
The issue of conscription is a bone of contention between us and religious Zionism. We Haredim truly and sincerely believe that the place of young yeshiva students is only in the tent of Torah. We have difficulties and fears related to the issue of conscription in general, and the conscription of yeshiva students in particular. This will not be resolved in a day and a half.
But this opaque approach, as reflected in the quotes from that interview, is in no way related to the Haredi view as we received it from our rabbis of all circles and denominations, Sephardim, Lithuanians, and certainly Hasidic Jews who grew up on the lap of Ahavat Yisrael - and yet Goldknopf claims to represent the Hasidic community.
Our sages were terrified to the core and were unable to eat or drink on the days when Jewish soldiers fell on the battlefronts. In the old days, they proclaimed fasts and sanctified assemblies.
I remember from my childhood the days when a lone Jewish soldier - Nachshon Waxman - was in captivity, and all the great men of Jerusalem flocked to a prayer and cry rally in the Moshe Memorial Synagogue in Jerusalem, which was packed with thousands of worried worshippers.
What has happened to us since then? Where has the basic Jewish feeling of identification with the plight of our brothers in our flesh gone? Where has the value of sharing in the sorrow of others and identifying with their pain gone?
Let it be emphasized, clarified, and sharpened: The approach of opacity and alienation, and opaque statements such as 'this is your pain' - is not related to our position on the issue of yeshiva students, even indirectly, and will not advance their Torah study in the slightest.
We are in a complex time. Passions are running high. Emotions are celebrating. Rage and pain are increasing on all sides.
And it is precisely from this that we must distill the perspective of Jews and Torah scholars, whose hearts are not hardened by the sorrow of others. Who approach bereaved families with holy reverence and tell them: Even if we do not agree with the yeshiva members - our hearts are with your pain, our pain with your distress, we bear your sorrow, for the people of Israel are as one body. Even when we are not with you in the army - we will be with you in our hearts, minds, and souls.
The conclusion from these difficult things is that the Haredi MKs are making a serious mistake when they refrain from coming to console the mourners, despite the difficulty of doing so and despite the fear of criticism. It turns out that this avoidance gives rise to a lack of sensitivity to the grief of others - a lack of sensitivity that has nothing to do with our position on the issue of Haredi recruitment, and is even fatally harmful to our anxiety about the status of the students of the holy yeshiva.
I will emphasize something important: This is a position I have heard from the greatest yeshiva heads of this generation - including in the last 24 hours (and this is the reason for my hesitation in publishing this).
I really hope that Goldknopf will find the decency to retract his words publicly, without asterisks and without statements like 'my words were taken out of context.'
I also hope that his fellow Haredi representatives will learn from this mistake and adopt a humane, soft, and Jewish approach, even if it is complex and not one-dimensional. And if they are unable to do so, the option of remaining silent always exists.
"And out of Egypt shall light shine for the righteous."
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