Israel's budget for the year 2000, which was finally passed by the
Knesset at the end of the secular year after a long political crisis,
focused the media spotlights on Minister of Education Yossi Sarid
of Meretz and how his office would budget the expenses for education.
Political correspondents described the negotiations: Yossi Sarid,
a senior representative of a Leftist party with extreme secular views,
against the dati and chareidi representatives fighting for
education allocations.
Eventually, as we all know, most of the demands that the dati
and chareidi parties presented were accepted. United Torah Jewry,
which is not part of the coalition government, managed, at a relatively
early stage, to prevent financial harm to chareidi educational institutions.
Commentators explained that this was part of the tactics of the coalition
heads to isolate Shas which was the main issue. The demands of Shas,
which remains a full partner in the coalition, were accepted much
later at the last minute, and then only after a coalition crisis.
Ultimately everyone was satisfied.
And this is the problem!
Although we must be thankful for what the Torah observant
have gained, we must be wary that it should not influence our feelings
towards the government. After our financial requirements were met,
here and there in chareidi circles you could hear people praising
the Minister of Education. "He is actually not such a bad guy!"
"Who would have believed that a Meretz Minister of Education would
have such a positive attitude towards funding Torah institutions and
chareidi education?" "With him `you can do business' and `close
deals.'" "Although Sarid is from Meretz you can persuade him
to behave decently with us."
Everyone knows that Yossi Sarid is the leader of a radical Leftist,
anti-religious party. After the results of the budget negotiations,
some began to feel that even Sarid and his political and ideological
colleagues can "understand" the needs of chareidi education
and can be persuaded to adopt a "constructive approach."
This is nothing more than a dangerous delusion. A fierce war is being
waged between the Torah-loyal and those wanting to uproot the Torah.
This is an endless war that will continue until we merit the coming
of Moshiach and evil disappears from the earth as all of mankind accepts
Hashem's kingdom.
A la guerre comme a la guerre, in war we must fight the war.
The first rule of war is to know your enemy.
We must realize, and not forget for a minute, that we face a belligerent
adversary who strives to eradicate Judaism, to smother any spark of
Torah and Judaism and to convert the image of am Yisroel. The
Minister of Education and his associates do not usually conceal their
shameful goal. Sometimes they simply refrain from carrying out their
designs because of political pressure. We should, however, not delude
ourselves into thinking that a positive response in one situation
shows a fundamental change in attitude. We dare not be apathetic on
the other occasions when these heretic circles endeavor, chas
vesholom, to uproot Torah and disseminate atheism.
Doubtless, Torah education is our foremost interest. They too realize
that "without kids there are no goats" (Bereishis Rabbah
42:3). The entire future of the Jewish Nation, either for better or,
cholila, for worse is dependent upon the education we offer
our children. This is not a new idea.
In the Igros Maran HaRav Chaim Ozer Grodzensky ztvk'l, we find
the following excerpt from a letter he wrote about the Keren HaTorah
of those days. After Maran describes the havoc caused by World War
I, he writes: "In this oppressing condition, leaders of the organized
Leftist parties spread their net to capture the innocent and guileless.
They founded secular schools and removed the kodesh from the
homes. Their entire aim is to eradicate all that is kodesh
and to strengthen and open more [heretical] schools. The Leftist parties
want to transform religious communities into secular ones and to change
schools that study Torah into secular ones. The traditional way of
Judaism and the Torah is alien to them and they do not accept that
His Torah and His religion is His neshomo, the secret of our
existence and foundation of our nationalism. They consider the importance
of the whole Torah to be the Yiddish or Hebrew language without any
Jewish content. There is a great danger to religious education from
these enemies and destroyers from inside and outside."
Indeed if they had their way they would leave no remnant of religious
education in general and of chareidi education in particular. Legitimate
democratic demands and political pressures force them to wait and
not carry out their plans. It is certain that the Torah-loyal, despite
the fact that they sit on the opposition benches, were allocated their
part in the budget because of political considerations. It was very
evident that the allocations that Shas and the National Religious
Party received from the very government in which they are full partners,
were furnished with much gnashing of teeth and only after they had
no choice.
Sarid and his partners are definitely not fools. If they must fund
our education needs, they reason, why should they not explain they
are doing so because they "understand us" and follow an "egalitarian
approach?"
As mentioned, we dare not delude ourselves about what caused these
developments nor about their true motives. We should not forget that
Torah Jewry was never an active part of a government in which personalities
from the Left occupy such sensitive positions as the Ministry of Education.
In this tenure too, UTJ was never a partner in the coalition and never
held any government positions. The cooperation with the coalition
in parliamentary votes when the government was first formed was only
to prevent the gezeira of drafting yeshiva students. Maranan
and rabanan shlita explicitly guided us to act so.
After only a few months a credibility crisis with Barak's government
arose because of their flagrant public chillul Shabbos when
they insisted on transporting major components of an electricity generator
on Shabbos, and also in connection with their dragging their feet
in forming the Tal Committee to legitimize the deferment of yeshiva
students from the army. Because of these difficulties our gedolei
Torah instructed us to leave the coalition. Nevertheless, there
never was, at any stage, an essential change in our attitude to them.
We were always convinced of the correct attitude towards them and
their movements that attempt to spread heresy and wipe out observing
Judaism.
It is necessary for us to refresh our memories and
cite briefly what the rishonim write about the required attitude
towards such minim and apikorsim.
The Rambam at the beginning of Hilchos Tefillah writes about
the bircas haminim in the tefillah of Shemoneh Esrei:
"During the time of Rabban Gamliel there were many apikorsim
who oppressed the Jews and seduced them to forsake Hashem. Since he
saw that this is the greatest need of men, he and his beis din
initiated a brocho in which we beseech Hashem to destroy the
apikorsim. [Rabban Gamliel] placed it in [Shemoneh Esrei]
so that everyone would be accustomed to say it."
The need to obliterate apikorsim who attempt to seduce Jews
from worshiping Hashem is "the greatest need of men" according
to the Rambam. It was essential to initiate a special brocho
in Shemoneh Esrei to request from the Creator to abolish them
"so that everyone would be accustomed to say it."
The danger apikorsim pose is so great that the Torah commands
us to burn even a sefer Torah that a min has written.
It is important to emphasize that the basis for this halocho
is not because we fear that the apikores wrote the sefer
Torah with mistakes and infiltrated his spurious views. Even if
the apikores wrote a perfect sefer Torah, even if he
did not change one letter, we are obliged to burn it "so we should
not leave over any remnant to apikorsim and what they have
done" (Rambam, Hilchos Yesodei HaTorah 6:8).
To understand this better we can illustrate it as follows: If followers
of Meretz would write a perfect sefer Torah perhaps we would
hear people praising their positive act, as actually something much
more positive than all their fine words on the need to be "just
and professional" with regard to funding chareidi institutions.
The Torah, however, requires us to burn this sefer Torah precisely
for this reason: "So we should not leave over any remnant of the
apikorsim and what they have done."
When a meisis tries to lead Jews astray, to
persuade them to leave their emunah in HaKodosh Boruch
Hu and His Torah, the Torah commands: "You shall not consent
to him, nor hearken to him; nor shall your eye pity him, nor shall
you spare, nor shall you conceal him" (Devorim 13:9). The
Torah is telling us that it is forbidden to defend a meisis,
as is written, "Nor shall you spare him." The Rambam writes
in Sefer HaMitzvos (lo sa'aseih 20) "that even if
you know of any way to defend what he did, you are not permitted to
mention it." On the contrary, we are obliged to accuse him of
doing evil--"If you know how to impeach him you are not allowed
to remain quiet" (ibid., 21).
The halocho is that lechatchila we try to prevent others
from pitying the meisis "since cruelty for those misleading
the nation after vanity is actually compassion, as is written, `that
Hashem may turn from the fierceness of His anger and show you mercy'
(Devorim 13:18).
Yated Ne'eman feels it as one of its primary duties to be on
the alert about these matters. We have a tradition from our Torah
Sages ztvk'l and ylct'a Maranan Verabonon shlita in
our generation, led by Maran the Rosh Yeshiva shlita, that
this is one of the central aims of this periodical that represents
daas Torah.
By doing so, the newspaper is fulfilling what the Rambam has taught
us in his commentary on Mishnayos (Ovos 1:15) that the
type of speech beloved by Hashem includes also "degrading the
depravation of the evil so their deeds and memory will be disgraced
by people and others will distance themselves from them." Rabbenu
Yonah writes (Sha'arei Teshuvah, Sha'ar III, 218): "We
are commanded to degrade and reveal the sins of anyone about whom
we are sure -- that we have studied his ways -- and know that
he has no fear of Elokim and continually does evil. We must slander
those who commit aveiros, so that those who hear this will
be disgusted with their evil deeds."
It is therefore clear that there is no reason to defend
or give any chance for such reshoim. The rishonim write
that the rule of "Judge everyone favorably" (Ovos 1:6)
does not apply to known reshoim. For such people even their
"good deeds" must be condemned. Just as in the case of an
upright person we must exert ourselves to interpret even a deed that
appears negative to be not so, so with a complete rosho we
must exert ourselves to interpret his "good deeds" as concealing
something evil and negative.
"Even if his deed is altogether good, without any apparent aspect
of sin, a person must condemn him and say he did it only to find favor
but inwardly he is not like that, as is written (Mishlei 26:25),
`He who hates dissembles with his lips and lays up deceit within him;
when he speaks fair do not believe him for there are seven abominations
in his heart' (Rabbenu Yonah, Pirkei Ovos, 1:6)."
