Deception and Deflection
Be aware of the manipulation!
We are at a pivotal moment in Israeli society. With hundreds of soldiers killed, thousands injured, and much greater forces needed for the future, there is a crisis of manpower in the IDF. The army is requesting vastly greater commitments from the nation. Meanwhile, the charedi community refuses to share the burden. Aside from this leaving the IDF short of soldiers, it also weakens the desire of the rest of Israel to serve - nobody likes to be taken advantage of. Resentment against the charedi community has reached an all-time peak.
But politics is politics, and Bibi is still desperate for charedi support to keep himself in power. This means keeping the money flowing to charedi yeshivos even while the war requires steep cuts to be made everywhere else. And with regard to IDF service, they need to flip the narrative. And so certain Likud elements, along with the charedi community, are trying to counter the demand for the charedim to do their share. A number of rhetorical tricks are used to this end, and it’s important to be able to identify them.
First, we have obfuscation. Likud Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi declared on television that charedim should not be drafted because those who learn Torah full-time protect the rest of us. When the interviewer expressed surprise, Karhi claimed that it is “part of our faith that Torah protects Israel.”
Do you see the deception here? You can certainly say that it is part of Jewish faith that Torah protects Israel. But equating “Torah” with “100,000 charedim in yeshivah” is quite the leap! There’s plenty of Torah that is learned by people other than charedim aged 18-24. There is absolutely no reason for people to accept the claim that it’s specifically the Torah of charedi young men avoiding army service which is needed - especially since charedi towns over the Green Line are adamant that they need (non-charedi) IDF soldiers to protect them.
Then we have smokescreens. Some people will talk about “all the charedim” who drafted since the war began. In fact, the number is just several hundred, which is completely insignificant vis-a-vis the sixty-six thousand charedim who just received an exemption.
Others will talk about the tremendous chessed done by charedim. In fact, the vast majority of charedim learning in yeshiva are not doing any chessed at all. And while the chessed being done by many people in the charedi community is wonderful, it just doesn’t begin to compare to army service - not in the number of hours, not in the benefits to the nation, and especially not in the sacrifice.
And then we have deflection. The satirical show Eretz Nehederet just released a painful and biting skit which is making waves - you can watch it on YouTube at this link. Some people see it as exactly on the mark. Others claim that it is “incitement” against charedim. (Still others consider it to be in poor taste for different reasons, but that is not relevant here.)
Personally, I think that if one considers satire to be a legitimate tool of social commentary - which I think most people do, and even charedi newspapers have political cartoons - then I don’t see why charedim should be immune. And the essential criticism in the skit is that charedim are not involved in the national burden of army service, and don’t even sufficiently care about it. This, as a generalization, is absolutely true.
But let’s say that one considers the Eretz Nehederet skit to have overstepped. Is the story here about anti-charedi incitement? It's frustrating that no matter how much pain and harm the charedi community causes to the rest of Israel, they so often refuse to acknowledge criticism as an expression of that pain and as stemming from a genuine need to create change. Instead, it's always branded as "anti-religious incitement." This is a deflection which enables the charedi community to flip the narrative, paint themselves as victims, and avoid actually dealing with the criticism.
There is a very real and very large problem here. It’s not at all clear how it can be resolved. But it must be acknowledged.
What a tasteless post. Accusing others of deflection when that's just about all you do!
Not once have you ever addressed the importance of torah and how literally nothing even comes remotely close to its toes in what matters in life. But opinions borne from utter ignorance, with the confidence of someone who knows what they're talking about, you have no problem sharing.
"It's frustrating that no matter how much pain and harm the charedi community causes to the rest of Israel, they so often refuse to acknowledge criticism as an expression of that pain and as stemming from a genuine need to create change. Instead, it's always branded as "anti-religious incitement." This is a deflection which enables the charedi community to flip the narrative, paint themselves as victims, and avoid actually dealing with the criticism."
Instead of getting "frustrated" about a "deflection", how about.....actually stopping the anti-religious incitement? Everything on your website, including your descriptions of chareidim's emunah as "stupid religious beliefs" falls into the category of anti-religious incitement. Accept that chareidim have different religious beliefs than you. That's not changing. Try to work within that. Otherwise you are getting nowhere fast, except satisfying your own hatred.