Much has been written lately about the hostility and cruelty
the new government is showing toward large families. It is a
government in which one of the top ministers speaks against
having babies and raising children, while describing how he
feels pity for street cats.
This shameful approach, accompanied by efforts to goad public
antipathy, was not prevalent under previous governments. Even
secular leaders who were not accustomed to the sight of large
families still encouraged high birth rates--even among
chareidim.
Recently Yated Ne'eman received a letter that the
country's first prime minister, David Ben Gurion, sent to a
large chareidi family 51 years ago. "The Government of Israel
has enclosed a check for 100 liras as a token of esteem and
encouragement for a Jewish mother who has given birth to and
is raising ten children," he wrote.
Another reader pointed out an additional fact worthy of note.
Many believing Jews, disgruntled that Israeli currency lacks
any mention of faith in the Borei Olom-- such as the words,
"In G-d we trust," printed on the US dollar bill--may have
drawn a hasty conclusion.
Alongside the picture of former President Zalman Shazar on
the NIS 200 bill appears an excerpt from a statement he made
in 5709 (1949). These bills invariably change hands hundreds
of times every day, but few people take the trouble to
examine the fine print. Those who strain their eyes a bit may
be surprised to find the bill in their pocket contains
passionate words about the historic mission of Am Yisroel
from ancient times, including the phrase, " . . . the Nation
that knew the law veshinantom levonecho from its first
entry onto the stage of history." He also mentions how R'
Shimon Ben Shetach determined that melamdim should be
established in every city and town. " . . . And even in the
darkness of its dispersal and in all of its communities [the
Nation] knew enough to require every community to incorporate
melamdei tinokos at the expense of all of its
residents, rich and poor, childless or having many children,
married or unmarried- -everyone must help bear the burden of
Torah study."
Thus today's claims that "lomdei Torah have to take
care of themselves," or "the entire public cannot be expected
to bear the burden of those who give birth to children in
order to learn Torah" and "why should every single man and
father of one have to fund the studies of someone else's ten
children?" are countered by bills issued by the Bank of
Israel.
Shazar's remarks were probably made during his term as
Minister of Religion and Culture as a rationale for the
Compulsory Education Law passed at the time. Zionist leaders
have always been wont to borrow from historical and Torah
sources to reach distorted conclusions, and here Shazar
upholds this tradition in making his case for the national
education law, although the vast majority of students in the
country do not even know what a verse or a Mishnah
looks like.
Nevertheless, in the final analysis, nobody can deny the
fundamental truth expressed in Shazar's remarks: in Jewish
history the obligation to support Torah study falls on the
entire Nation. Although other Zionist figures like him might
try to claim these remarks apply to secular education as
well, certainly the fundamental meaning behind them was the
obligation to uphold the study of the Torah received at Mt.
Sinai, as practiced in every generation everywhere in the
Diaspora.
When Ministers Lapid and Poraz take a closer look at the NIS
200 bills in their wallets, they might well demand that the
Bank of Israel issue new currency in order to spare them any
feelings of internal conflict as they prepare to implement
laws designed to prevent these--or any other bills--from
reaching the hands of Torah families blessed with numerous
children.
