Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel

In Israel, I heard they are filming a new movie entitled, “Grumpy Old Rabbis.”

Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv sure looks like he could use a Kosher McDonald’s Happy Meal today. The HaAretz newspaper had a very interesting article how this centenarian continues to exert a powerful influence on the inner world of the Haredi community. His discordant halachic positions continue to send both the Israeli and Diaspora Jewish community reeling. Jews by Choice are among his favorite targets.

Most elderly Haredi scholars are known for their Responsa decisions pertaining to Jewish law. This elderly rabbi has never written a halachic work, and yet when he speaks, many of the leading Israeli Haredi rabbis are afraid to disagree with him. Is it because of his scholarship? Or is it because of his unique ability to commandeer Haredi politics? I suspect more the latter.

Remember one eternal halachic truth: A man may know the entire Talmud, Codes and commentaries and still be a boorish individual.

Readers may recall how Rabbi Elyashiv recently (about six months ago) banned the use of Shabbat elevators, which are essential for many high-rise senior centers and hotels that cater to an Orthodox elderly clientele. This rabbi did not seem to care what kind of hardship his legal decision would cause frail elderly people who can barely walk down the corridor in the event a Shabbat elevator became “forbidden.” Fortunately, the people asserted their voice and Rabbi Elyashiv backed down on this issue.

HaAretz reported, “We saw proof of that two weeks ago, when two words from him, ‘Don’t compromise,’ caused his two representatives in the Knesset to attack the conversion bill initiated by MK David Rotem (Yisrael Beiteinu), which was designed to make the process of conversion in Israel much easier . . .” The ghost of Shammai must be gloating over Hillel, who always sought to welcome perspective converts. Shammai is reborn in the persona of Rabbi Elyashiv.

Unfortunately, like Rabbi Eliezer Shach (whose sour disposition lasted till he was 103 years old), Rabbi Elyashiv sees the Haredi community at war with the rest of the secular and Jewish world. For him, there is no such thing as “compromise.” Unlike the great Haredi rabbis of the past generations, e.g., R. Moshe Feinstein, Rabbi Eliezer Yehuda Waldenberg, and Rabbi Shlomo Auerbach, Rabbi Elyashiv tends to focus on the issues that politically divide Jews; he is not someone who strives for harmonization. Under his influence, we are witnessing what has been dubbed as the “Haredi Intifada,” where rioting has been a weekly activity for young Haredi kids that prefer rioting to football on Shabbat. Rabbi Elyashiv has yet to publicly condemn such unlawful behavior.

When we consider the daily scandals coming out in the news from Israel regarding its Haredi members’ behavior, we are reminded of the words of the great Greek cynic, Diogenes, who was famous for walking through the streets of Athens in broad daylight waving a lantern and announcing that he was looking for a “honest man” (It’s a little bit like trying to find an honest politician in Washington). According to another legend, Diogenes lit a lamp in broad daylight and said, as he went about, “I am looking for a man.” It is a pity we do not have a rabbinic Diogenes wandering the streets of Mea She’arim and B’nai Brak with a lantern in broad daylight, exclaiming the same ethical proclamation,“I am looking for a mentsch …” We need moral and articulate teachers today more than we need Talmud scholars who lack the ability to correct a wayward generation with a soothing but compelling ethical voice.

Rabbi Elyashiv behaves more like a warrior, rather than a peace maker and teacher. What a pity. If he would use his immense influence in constructive ways, he could make a lasting contribution toward easing the friction between the Haredi and the non-Haredi communities; he could similarly address the issues of child and spousal abuse, as well as help solve the problem with women who cannot remarry because of husbands who utilize extortion to obtain large sums of money from their estranged spouses.

Lastly, encouraging Haredi young men to become breadwinners for their growing families is a wonderful way of teaching personal responsibility; not to mention, rabbis like him must start encouraging the young Haredi men the need to serve in the Israeli army. By the year 2025, over 25% of the Israeli population will be Haredi. The country will never be able to survive either economically or militarily with the current system.

More recently, Rabbi Elyashiv ruled that the Ashekelon Barzilai Medical Center could not have a missile shield since it would involved moving graves from an adjacent cemetery–despite the fact that graves have often been moved throughout much of Jewish history since Roman times. Incidentally, Maimonides rules that when a grave poses a danger to the public, it may be relocated to another area.[1] Given the real threat of danger of the Hamas missile attacks on Ashkelon, there is more than a compelling halachic rational to relocate the graves to a safer vicinity.

One cannot help but think that Rabbi Elyashiv is lost in the pre-emancipated world of the 18th century, a time when many of the rabbis ruled their communities with an iron halachic fist. He is not an exemplary 21st century rabbinic leader.

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Notes:

[1] Maimonides, MT Tu’mat Met 8:5-6