Here’s the difference between Modern Orthodoxy in America and the State of Israel. In America, the MO are insecure. They know the Charedim are frummer. I once talk a walk down Bedford Ave. in Williamsburg. I felt ashamed of myself. Everyone was so modest. They men were carrying sefarim. It was inspiring as I knew they were better than me, me who knows the lyrics to every Beatles song. Most MO, at least the ones with any intellectual honesty, feel this way. Yes, we try to cover it by ranting about the problems in the Charedi world. We take isolated incidents and talk about them forever. But just go over the RIETs at YU. They do all they can to imitate the Charedim who they know set the standard for religious idealism today. Well all they can except when it comes to Zionism and feminism.
In Israel, the Modern Orthodox, aka Dati Leumi, are arguably less frum than American MO. The teenagers in the DL school near my house wear tight, stretchy skirts that sit five inches about their knees. The goyim in Walmart are more modest than these Dati Leumi youth whose mothers are little better.
They try to make up for it with military service. That’s their thing, their idealism. I’m a good Jew, I was in the military. That’s the attitude.
For many years the DL said, leave us alone this is how we want to be. And they concocted these parallels to the armies of Joshua and Dovid ha-melech and expected us to buy into it. And the Charedim said, that’s not in my Shulchan Aruch. This is not Judaism. So you stay over there and we’ll stay over here.
But now the Israeli government, having conquered the Arabs, is coming after the Charedim with their draft into their secular brainwashing machine. And the Dati Leumi, who the Charedim always suspected of being more loyal to the secular state than to Hashem and His Torah are showing that they indeed are more loyal to the secular state. And they are confident now with regards to the Charedim. They have the secular army and police to back them up. Cut off funds. Toss the bums in jail. That’s what they are saying.
Essentially, they have sold out their brothers to the local ruler. Unlike in America where the MO generally admire the Charedim and take their lead in religious matters from them, in Israel the MO are trying to lord over the Charedim and have sided with the secular authorities to do so. I am no Novi, no prophet, but my guess is that Heaven will exact an incredible vengeance for this. Most of the final days before Moshiach have consisted of a weeding out of the disloyal. And this may be one of the final tests. You who call yourselves shomer Shabbos, let’s see what’s really in your hearts.