Can the Chareidi Story Be Rewritten... Or Is It Too Late? A Conversation With Rabbi Menachem Bombach (299)

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Rabbi Dov Landau, who, along with Rabbi Moshe Hillel Hirsch, is considered one of the two main rabbinic voices that guide the Degel HaTorah party, was seen on a video about a week ago saying the following:

"There are wicked people, including those who wear knitted kippot. I am talking about those with knitted kippot who force people to go [to the army]. I would ask them, according to their position - though they have no position, rather according to their foolishness -  if the state sends people, soldiers, for the sake of the country's honor, and they kill people, is that also permissible? That is literal murder. Therefore, they are inciting murder - that is what they are doing. They are making wars not for the sake of saving people, just for the honor of the state."

His remarks were so incendiary that even Prime Minister Netanyahu condemned these words - and immediately, Degel HaTorah released a statement defending the words of the rabbi. As quoted by the Jerusalem Post, the party said, "The words of the great Torah scholars are the holy of holies of the people of Israel, and we live by them. Those who do not live the world of the Torah and do not understand the depth of their words, it is better not to rush to interpret them, and certainly not to attack them. Beware of their burning embers."

For people outside of the Chareidi world, and certainly for some within it as well, episodes like this - offensive and hurtful statements that are false, followed by a requisite political demand that the words of certain leading rabbis not be questioned - are reasons that some have given up on the possibility of real change coming from within the Chareidi world. Whether it's regarding army service or integration into the workplace, many people are despairing.

Rabbi Menachem Bombach is different. He grew up in the Chassidic community of Meah Shearim and still identifies with that community, even as he is working from inside to effect real change in the Chareidi world.

In our conversation, Rabbi Bombach explains why meaningful change within the Chareidi world must begin with empathy rather than condemnation, even as he insists that the current trajectory is unsustainable for both Israeli society and the