The Charedi world in Israel is demoralized by this turn of events. Rav Shmuel for his part has not backed off. And his followers remain loyal.
With all the problems the Charedi world in Israel face, this is the one area that affects them the most. The fight detracts from their Torah study and ignores existential issues like Parnassa (livlihood) and the poverty the Charedi world faces because of the lack of it in so many of their lives. While it is true that the Parnassa issue is finally being addressed somewhat by pioneers of Charedi education like Adina Bar Shalom, it is hardly enough to solve the problem. The problem persists. Rome is burning while the Charedi world fiddles.
How will this all end? I don’t know. But if past is prologue then there will continue to be splits over the most minor of issues and the political power that the Charedi parties once enjoyed will be reduced to nothing.
There are those who might revel in this. But I am not among them. I do not relish what is happening to a group of religious Jews that are Moser Nefesh for Torah.
As a side issue, I have always thought that if all the religious parties would unite, what a powerful force they would be. In addition to the Charedi parties, there are 2 additional religious parties that have their own agendas. The Sephardic ‘Shas’ party and Bayit HaYehudi -the politically right wing heirs of the National Religious Party (Mizrachi).
Imagine what Israel could be like if all the observant members of the Kenesset would unite to form a single party. I’m not talking about creating a theocracy. I am talking about a democracy that would not discriminate against anybody – religious or otherwise. With a little bit of compromise so much could be accomplished. Couldn’t it?
