Perhaps one should not be surprised that remarks made to a rabbinical kinos on Monday espousing the advantages that would be evident if Torah Law was implemented in Eretz Yisrael, and adding halacha provides all the answers that we seek to our current day problems, have led to calls for the dismissal of Justice Minister Prof. Yaakov Neeman.
Neeman is an outside appointment, unaffiliated with any political party, but now, after he dared to call to replace secular law with Torah values, he has become a target of the pro-secular community, those who have toiled for decades to remove Jewish values from the modern Jewish State, to turn Eretz Yisrael into a secular state with the national spoken language being Hebrew.
Ynet quotes “senior sources in the legal system” who are reportedly calling on Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to fire Neeman immediately. It appears the anonymously quoted senior individuals are unable to tolerate such a brazen outward display of Jewish identity, such an affront to the civil leanings of the nation’s judiciary system, the High Court of Justice, the bastion of ultra-liberal ultra-secular rulings, constantly and repeatedly undermining Torah and Jewish values.
Prof. Amnon Rubinstein, a retired cabinet minister and well-respected member of the nation’s legal system, not to mention a former minister of education, explained in media interviews that a shift to Torah Law would “rob the nation of its character as a Jewish democratic nation”.
In a showing of true statesmanship and tolerance, Rubinstein stated the minister does not necessarily have to be fired, and he even does not “blame him for being a religious person”, but he does point a finger of blame at the political parties, for their “betrayal of their constituents”.
Dr. Yossi Beilin, a former Labor Party minister and head of the radical left-wing Meretz Party called for immediately ousting Neeman from his post in response to his unacceptable remarks. He added that “a justice minister promoting Torah Law and theocracy are not suited to hold a senior cabinet post”.
The hysteria ranges from calls for the senior minister’s dismissal, to demands for a public apology. One exception, quoted by Ynet, is Dr. Aviad HaCohen, Dean of the Shaarei Mishpat Academic College and specialist on Jewish Law, praised Neeman’s words, explaining one cannot disassociate the words of the prophets from our value system or expression of a Jewish State.
Sadly, as of the time of this article, MKs, ministers and deputy ministers from the chareidi and dati leumi parties have not come out in support of Neeman’s statements, preferring to let him come under fire without coming to his side and placing themselves in the line of secular fire.
In a statement released by the Justice Ministry, Neeman explains his remarks dwelled on shabbos and other elements of a Jewish life and in no way intended to call for replacing existing state law with Torah Law, not directly or indirectly.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
17 Responses
This is the simple reason why there should not be a Jewish state.
yaakov,
sure beats aushwitz or treblinka. You should pray everyday 3 times a day during shmonei esreh that your lost brethren born into secular homes be hozer bteshuvah instead of spewing your anti israel garbage. Try to add to the ahdus instead of criticizing from within.
And I suppose worship of Baal was a “simple reason” why there should not have been a Jewish State in the time of Eliyahu Ha’navi?
“national spoken language being Hebrew”
Could you mean the language that Moshe spoke to the NATION OF ISRAEL?
“preferring to let him come under fire without coming to his side and placing themselves in the line of secular fire”.
Do you know why the charedi and DL MKs did not speak out? We can assume that you do NOT know the reason.
Kudo to Mr. Yaakov Neeman for always speaking out in torah true terms and raising kavod shem shamayim.
#1 its to late. The arabs would murder every single jew if the state would fall apart.
I give Prof. Neeman a lot of credit!!
“”A shift to Torah Law would “rob the nation of its character as a Jewish democratic nation””.what a sad comedy
“TOO JEWISH”
I don’t think Ne’eman had in mind to totaly run the nation according to Halacha, and do away with democracy, surely not what he meant applicable right now. He just was saying that in a vast majority of problems and disputes etc. why should we trail the durty waters of english and roman law when we have something so much better.
Not to take away any credit from him, just to show how scared the secularists are from anything that smells Jewish…
Proff. Neeman means so well,but a tam.Its rediculous to expect a secular State to respect Torah, when its founders were aethiests. The N K are off the wall and the Secular Z. are off the wall,one to the right religious whackos,the other to the left kofrim minim and apikorsim. Neeman is a well meaning Tam. The sec. State has done so much good that we Shomrai Torah benefit from we should be maker tov for this to them Also the State did such enormous chillul Hashem it deserves midas Hadin .Remeber Hachnasas Orchim ( open door to all yiden) is GREATER than Kabolass Pnai Haschinah. Nothing is black and white
If they can constantly express their “secular” views, why, according to their own way of thinking, cannot someone express contrary views?
What could possibly be so offensive that one has to be removed from government because of an opinion that he expressed? And what kind of statement is it that “he doesn’t *necessarily* have to be *fired*? Either they want democracy or they don’t. If they want it for their own views, they must allow it for contradictary views!!!.
Absolute chutzpah.
This is all besides the actual issue of course.
What absolute chutzpah.
The reason those voices are so offended is that they well know the truth inside.
As per #1: This is the simple reason why there should not be a Jewish state.
the abuse this man is suffering makes me very upset.
all he did was express his opinion, and the left-wingers of this country attack him unrelentingly.
it clearly reveals the horror of a left-wing authority – they feel they have the moral high ground (as self-proclaimed humanitarians) and so everyone else MUST be wrong, and so they think they have every right to attack, humiliate and cause suffering to anyone who does not think how they think.
of course, this Justice Minister is allowed to recognise and appreciate the benefits and values of a torah-based system – even whilst doing his job of applying secular law in a secular law court.
an Israeli politician might prefer how the balance of power within the government of america is chosen, but that does not stop him being an effective politician here in Israel.
it is a good thing that a Justice Minister is looking for ways to improve the system he has dedicated his life to. those who disagree with him should try to show the flaws in his reasoning rather than just attack him as a person for expressing himself- do they think the judicial system is perfect and not in need of improvement?
if so, then they should resign. and if not, then what is wrong with recognising other systems have qualities to admire and suggesting that they be incorporated into the current system (well, had the other system to admire been something other then halacha I can only imagine the left-wing would not have made such a fuss!)
Daniel Breslauer is, of course, welcome to move to the other state that exists in E”Y… if he won’t be killed for doing so.
Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.
Also the State did such enormous chillul Hashem it deserves midas Hadin
So glad that you are not employed by Melech Malchai Hamelachim.
bpzaidy (# 7) You say that the comment that “a shift to Torah Law would “rob the nation of its character as a Jewish democratic nation” is a sad sad comedy.
The Torah is not democratic, and we should say that without apologies – at the same we need to deal with the facts that in the 20th Century “we” all came to yearn for and respect modern democracies – and that these democracies, the United States chief among them, over the past 140 years are the kelim Hashem used to save us and enable Torah to flourish.
#15 What are you saying? Do you realize that great people were ne’enash for saying things like
that? If true, you are melamed chov on so many people, and you are placing yourself in danger as well.
However, the fact of the matter is that there are many people in that ‘state’, and many of them are great tzadikim. We have no idea what the “state” deserves.