Yes, Rabbi of Crawley. Methinks the sicarrim who fought against other Jews based on their certainty that their derech was the right one in the face of challenges both physical and spiritual from within the Jewish nation and from the Romans outside it had the same perspective.
It worked out really well for them, and all of the Jews of the time, didn’t it?
Well, if you want to fight the Zionist regime, go ahead. I’m tired of trying to convince people here to do otherwise. And the things that the Israeli government does that seem to be about antagonism and power don’t help the issue.
But the caricature of Zionism repeated here ad nauseum is not something to fight. You’d be punching at shadows. As I’ve said before, based on 25 years of conversations with Israelis, including with people like Shimon Peres, the late Yitzchak Rabin, other former PM’s MK’s, Generals, academics, and Joes on the street, you have a super inflated sense of self importance. Those who you term the “Zionist Regime” don’t give a flying fiddle about changing your beliefs or making your children kofrim. They want a safe comfortable life for their families with no one telling them how to think, what to eat, or when to travel, where everyone in the society gives equitable service. The few who are antagonistic because they are truly prejudiced are balanced by those among the Chareidi world who are the same.
If you really truly want to fight the Zionist regime, you can do two things. One, become a murderer, pick up arms and overthrow the “regime” you say you “must fight”. Good luck with that. You’ll get far, I’m sure.
Two, do what is necessary to convince other Israelis that you are right, justified, and holy, and they can be too. Figure out what you need to do to bring them to your way of thinking with love and brotherhood. Then get up from your shtender and do it. Otherwise, you are just complaining without doing anything to change your reality. I have no time for someone without the courage of their convictions.
Here are the realities to contend with. The Chareidi birthrate is dropping, even relative to the secular, which is growing. It’s share of the vote isn’t keeping up with its population growth, meaning people are making choices beyond what they are commanded to do by their manhigim. The number of those leaving the fold is growing. The number of those becoming frum has stagnated. The financial challenges are increasing. The access to alternative views whether through the internet or other means continues to grow. The response of forbidding the entire internet has failed miserably where there was an incredible opportunity to use it for kedushah. I fear for the future of the community of my youth. I’m not going to go into any more challenges but there are many. I suggest that these need to be confronted more imminently than some nebulous “Zionist regime”.
It starts with you.
As I said, I’m tired, and I worry also for the future of our fractured people. ALL of us. I wish you well in finding a struggle worth enduring, and an outcome that benefits Am Yisroel.