Time for Unity

This post is a personal answer to the dozens of emails that have asked me for further clarification about how we view the Emmanuel affair.

I thank Hashem for my beloved rabbi and spiritual guide, Rav Shalom Arush, may Hashem bless him always. I also thank Hashem for enabling me to be a part of Breslev Israel, Rav Shalom's outreach arm headed by my brother-in-spirit Yosef Nechama, and the Chut Shel Chesed Yeshiva, which Rav Shalom personally heads.

In our Yeshiva, Ashkenazim learn alongside Sephardim. You can find white Jews learning with black Jews. There's no dress code as to the color kippa you wear, but as far as people go, we are religiously and zealously color-blind. The fastest way to get kicked out of our Yeshiva is to say something derogatory about another group or spiritual leader in Judaism, even those who radically oppose Breslev or Rav Shalom. Rav Shalom does not tolerate hatred and discrimination. But, the Yeshiva has very high standards as to personal conduct, academic demands and adherence to religious law that all must uphold.

I am a strong believer in Jewish integration, for I believe that it's the key to ending the intramural hatred that corrodes our people from the inside. My beloved partner in life is a Sephardi; not only is she a dream wife and mother, but she's a brilliant Rebbetzen that's just as home in every shelf of the Jewish-thought library as she is in the kitchen. Since my origins are Ashkenazic, our home is the best of all worlds.

Yes, Jews have the right to continue in the ways of their fathers. Let those who want to have their own schools - teaching in Yiddish, Ladino, English or whatever they please - do so. Let there be equal funding for every child of every taxpayer.

Personally, I believe that the insulation of the closed-door schools leads to selfishness, false pride of superiority, and hatred. The advantages of Ahavat Yisrael and unity in an integrated atmosphere greatly outweigh the any advantages of an elitist Yiddish education. Speaking lashon hara in Yiddish certainly doesn't make it kosher. Personal holiness, excellence of learning, and a high level of religious ethics and morality are what really counts.

If a school doesn't accept your child because of your ethnic background, be happy - Hashem is doing the best for you. Who wants to learn in a place where they're not wanted?

I hope that more and more Torah institutions learn to take the Chut-Shel-Chesed approach. With Lebanese and Iranian boats on the way to our beaches, and the area as tense as a bowstring, who can afford the luxury of intramural hatred and separatism?

The 15th of Av, amongst other things, is a joyous day in the Jewish calendar because it was then that the twelve tribes of Israel were allowed to marry each other. So why revert back to separatism? We have the three dangerous weeks between 17 Tammuz and Tisha B'Av - beginning next Tuesday, June 29 - to traverse before we reach the 15th of Av. We can't afford any more Emmanuel fiascos; I urge the plaintiff to get the case out of civil court and solve it through mandatory Halachic arbitration in the very best rabbinical court. Where there's segregation, discrimination, separatism, and intramural hate, everybody loses.

Comments

[Yonatan Knickerbocker]

Beautifully said Rabbi. We have no room for any kind of discrimination between ourselves. If there's one thing that you can learn from a Ger, its that in coming from the outside, we get a unique view of unity automatically. We are all Jews, sparks of light that are part of the Holy One. Anyone who doesn't view things this way is depriving him/herself of a gift given by Hashem.

[me.yahoo.com/a/i.XgyU87ns1Sfp8WQ9CsoOJG_ns-]

With blessings and honor:

Unity?! If the vision of Am Yisrael cannot include even the blackest most insular point of the Yiddish-speaking ghetto, then something is very very wrong. The truth is, there is actually something there worth protecting and perpetuating. What a tragic loss for the entire Jewish people if this pure point is lost. "Equality and tolerance" has a darker side when expressed incorrectly.

I am deeply disheartened to read here that this is simply an ashkenazi-sephardi issue. We are like Yosef HaTzaddik's multi-colored coat. That diversity is precisely the "yofi" of Am Yisrael. Oy vavoy if we eagerly snuff out our inherent distinctive qualities in the name of one homogenized religious "culture." For any ger or baal teshuva (like myself), it is easier to take from every tradition and even idealize this as a supreme value. Those who were born within a strong religious tradition reaching back thru generations of unfathomable exile should not be threatened and forced to simply homogenize it out of existence within one generation--by their own brethren!!!

To enroll a child in any school is to agree to its rules. Anyone who has sent sons or daughters through a haredi school system is well aware that each school has its "takanon"- its code of standards, including dress, basic Torah observance (i.e., no smoking on Shabbat) and general modesty of the home (i.e., no TV). If this is too difficult or parents are unwilling to hold themselves and their child to this, why would you want to force yourself into a place that is clearly not suitable for you or your child?! And drag the child through one confrontation after another within this Torah system, teaching him to blindly trample on the words of Torah sages... What type of example is that to kids who already need help?

On the most objective note, for a court (in Israel!) to force the parents to send their child to an institution that has been stripped of its ability to enforce their basic code of standards, and then imprison them in the manner we are witnessing, is fundamentally wrong.

I see much hate. but so far it is coming predominantly from one direction and it aint from the ghetto side... But don't confuse me with the facts that bring me out of my comfort zone.

With blessings to you, Rav Arush, shlita, and all who work on behalf of Am Yisrael.

[Alice Jonsson]

More beautiful positivity from Rabbi Lazer. Thanks for doing what you do.

[Yaakov Bar-Nahman]

Rav Lazer HaShem bless & guard you & Rav Shalom;
All beautifully said. Permit me to make a point regarding your urging the plaintiff to get the case out of civil court and solve it through mandatory Halakhik arbitration in the very best rabbinical court. The plaintiff did indeed take it to a qualified Rabbinical court, one that is known for its nondiscriminatory stance. One that is known to not give preference to any eidah or skin color etc. The defendants refused to appear before that Rabbinical tribunal without requesting change of venue as is required by halakha if one is not satisfied with the court chosen by the palintiff. They just outright refused. This is called "Siruv Beit Din" (refusal to abide to the Beit Din). That is why the Beit Din gave the right to the plaintiff to go to civil court. The suggestion made, in the shiur, to ask Rav Ovadia Yosef to sit with a major Ashkenazi posek was considered already & Rav Ovadia's response was A] that he knew neither of them would agree; B] He knew that if he would get involved it would become an even bigger "journalists picnic heyday" & be construed as a political game. He did comment though that attempts should be made to keep the matter in Rabbinical courts as much as possible. The "supreme court" went overboard & beyond its legal rights in the way it handled the case. After the very unpleasant & regretful jailing of fathers & a few mothers, the defendants asked for return to rabbinical court but refused the plaintiffs (halakhikaly correct) condition that they sign a paper stating they will abide by the Rabbinical courts ruling.

As for "me.yahoo"'s statement that he sees a lot of hate from the non-ghetto side, young man you didn't see what happened before it hit the news & what is going on behind the scenes. You've never been physically thrown out of a "tish" because you wear an all white Talit instead of one with black stripes, you've never had windows of your home shattered with rocks because your wife covers her hair with cloth headkerchief (fully covered) instead of a fancy flowing perfumed human hair wig, you've never been threatened with being beaten by the gabai of a Beit Kneset for saying kadish in a Sfaradi nosahh instead of Ashkenazi (I have).