On October 6, 2023, Israel was the picture of disunity. On October 8, 2023, Israel was the picture of unity.
As we approach the one-year anniversary of Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre, I fear that we are closer to the reality of October 6 rather than October 8. Thankfully, the recent, miraculous decimation of Hezbollah’s leadership has restored a layer of unity, but many painful divisions remain.
Hostages Family Forum vs. Gevurah (Fallen Soldiers) Family Forum; i.e, ceasefire and hostage deal vs. increased military pressure.
Charedi society vs. the rest of Israeli society, on the issue of IDF service.
The judicial reform issue itself has begun to return, with the deep divisions it wrought.
Readers of this space know where I stand on the moral failing of the Israeli charedi community in summarily dismissing IDF service, without even the minimum effort of approaching the army with its demands. I’ve also dialogued, though – albeit to a lesser degree – with far-right hilltop-youth types and far-left Palestinian supporter types. Surprisingly, I could understand a lot of their positions, even if I disagreed with most. But I was appalled to find they had common ground: both referred to certain groups of Jews or parts of governing coalition as “the enemy.” That was a line I insisted was unacceptable. If there is one word we need to avoid, no matter how bitter our disputes are, it is “enemy.”
By a similar token, charedi leadership has taken to labeling as enemies those who no longer want to provide financial subsidies those who don’t serve. In the reverse direction, I’ve begun to hear those who label charedi leadership as traitors.
But as with righties and lefties, so too with charedim, even the anti-Zionist variety. Anti-Zionist charedim are not “the enemy,” they are not traitors, aside from the Neturei Karta types that dine with Iranian leaders, declare figurative war on Israel and call for its destruction. I presume that I need not explain why most supporters of charedi IDF service, Torah-observant Jews among them, are not enemies of Torah; rather, they simply don’t want to foot the bill for those whose draft evasion necessitates the extension of their reserve duty and the existential risk that entails.
Though I’ve never used terminology of “enemy” or “traitor,” when I reflect on the past year, I think that my language in a specific article on charedi IDF service was more divisive than it was constructive. For that, I express public regret.
“Enemy” and “treason” are defined not just by actions, but by intent. Left-wing extremists, right-wing extremists, anti-Zionist charedim – none of these groups want the destruction of Israel, the murder of groups of Jews, or to actively sabotage its existence. To perhaps oversimplify it, they each want Israel to exist according to certain values, and they’re not willing to fight on its behalf if its milieu is antithetical to their core values.
One can certainly believe that such an approach may de facto be destructive. One can, and perhaps should, work to persuade others as to the harmful consequences of a given approach. Perhaps one can even label certain actions as practically seditious or treasonous. But none of that ought to correspond with slapping on the moniker of enemy/traitor, similar to how we would not tell our child “you are bad” even if we say “what you did is bad.”
Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran, on the other hand, want us dead. They are our enemies. We would do well to focus any feelings of enmity within ourselves squarely on them. If, G-d forbid, it is revealed that October 7th was enabled in part by a double agent, a spy, that is treason.
An Israeli cab driver was once bad-mouthing a certain subgroup of Israeli society. His passenger responded, “My rabbi taught me to view all Jews as brothers, no matter their views.” “And who is your rabbi?” asked the driver. “Adolf Hitler.”
Today’s enemies as well, Iran and its proxies, make it clear that left-wing peaceniks and charedim are equally their target as much as any other Israeli. Let’s strive to ensure that any disagreement we take part in rests on a foundation of brotherhood and not, G-d forbid, the opposite.
