Jerusalem – The Haredi political leadership has built its power base on the mantra of “secular Israel hates us.” They repeat this regularly from the Knesset floor and in committee hearings on a daily basis. The Haredi media provides the platform for Haredi MK’s to share this message with the broader Haredi community and the Haredi broadcasters mimic this divisive tone on an hourly basis.
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And, just like that, in a flash, this message has been proven to be false. False, and terribly damaging.
The Haredi newspaper, Mishpacha, sponsored a poll to determine the attitudes of secular Israelis towards Haredim. They hired one of Israel’s top pollsters, Mina Tzemach, to do the research. Here are some of the results:
1) 72% of secular Israelis believe that the Haredim do not contribute to the Jewish nature of Israel.
2) 67% believe that the IDF is obligated to provide Haredim who serve with all of their religious needs to make sure that their lifestyle is not impacted negatively by their army service.
3) 82% are willing to hire Haredim to work in their companies.
4) 93% believe that there must be dialogue between the secular and Haredim to preserve unity in Israeli society.
5) 52% feel that Haredim and secular living side by side in the same areas will lead to better relationships between these populations.
6) 77% know Haredim personally and 83% have a favorable outlook towards the Haredim who they do know.
7) Among those who live in neighborhoods with Haredim, 77% say that the Haredim do not disturb their lives in any way.
8) 91% want to make sure that Israel preserves its Jewish identity, 89% believe that Israeli children must be familiar with Jewish tradition, and 50% feel that the education system is not doing enough to preserve these beliefs.
9) 92% have a mezuzah on their front doors.
Hatred towards Haredim? Want Haredim to be less religious? Despise Torah and mitzvot? One professional poll has dispelled all these myths about secular Israel and should be a wake-up call to the entire Haredi establishment.
Lest anyone think that this is my assessment as member of Knesset in the Yesh Atid party, I will quote from Rabbi Moshe Gorelik, editor of Mishpacha, and a media personality who has long participated in spreading the party line of “it’s us against them.”
Rabbi Gorelik writes: “To admit the truth, we were stunned. If this poll is correct, we have been living all the time with a mistake. We were sure that the average secular Israeli despised us. Not only that, but we in the Haredi media in partnership with the Haredi politicians, spread this feeling and spoke about it over and over, all the time. And behold, this beautiful structure falls apart. Behold, it has become clear, that the truth is different: Most and close to all don’t hate. An elite minority, perhaps, hates, but this is not the lot of the majority. The majority has no interest in us at all. They don’t have hatred, they don’t have love, they are simply indifferent. We are a black hole. They pass Bnei Brak and have zero curiosity to enter its streets, our kitchens, our living rooms, or our Torah institutions.
What does this say to us and about us? Why are we not a source of inspiration? What is flawed about us in that which we are not succeeding to spread to the greater society? We must change approaches and the way we look at one another. We must stop fortifying ourselves behind mistaken walls and change paths. We must feel a sense of ‘shlichut, messengers to Israeli society….simply because this is the Jewish way: To be a model and example.”
Music to the ears of the entire Jewish nation.
As we enter Pesach, the holiday which celebrates our redemption, and begin the Omer during which we mourn the students of Rabbi Akiva who failed to act with respect towards one another, let’s hope that the lessons learned from this poll free all Jews from mistaken beliefs and assumptions and yield the beginning of a new era of unity, tolerance, respect, and working together.
Rabbi Dov Lipman has rabbinic ordination from Ner Israel Rabbinical College and a masters in education from Johns Hopkins University. Rabbi Lipman is a member of Knesset with the Yesh Atid party. He is an educator, author, and community activist in Bet Shemesh where he lives with his wife and four children.
The above was first published by The Times Of Israel on April 13, 2014, reprinted with permission.
The truth always wins out.
I’m waiting for someone to day that since Daas Torah says the secular hate the haredim, we have to listen to Daas Torah and not the facts.
It could be worse. We could all be self hating jews and think that the next guy “hates us” too. But when the Charedi are counted, do they ask themselves why they are on their pathway in life or do they thank G-d for their future. I would think that when you see religious questions and faith tribulations left and right, you start asking yourself “Am I accountable”. In the case you are not, you are not Serving Torah and Hashem in your highest role. Ask yourself if you are accountable and make the modifications to make your soul true to All Torah Values. You might just find yourself serving in the IDF.
Thank you Rabbi Lipmann for saying the truth without falling for thecahredi bully tactics.
Mr. ALTERG. Where were all the charedim all the years under Vadas tal? Why didn’t they go to work? Ill repeat again VADAS TAL WAS NOT NACHAL CHAREDI. It was for married over 24 year olds looking for a job. All they had to do was some national service for three months while sleeping at home with their wives at night. I’ll tell you the answer, you guys know that the frei don’t hate cahredim you just don’t want to work finished.
And I am willing to bet that under the new law it will be the same. Although those over 22 currently can now work with no army serice very few will actually go to work. And they will blame it on some silly quirck. In order to work you have to offically report to the army and then they will write away give you a puter if you are over 22. But the charedim will say pew tzionim we can’t report to the army. nonsense anything abi not to work.
I am a modern orthodox woman who reads Mishpacha magazine regularly and eagerly. I think that the writers are extremely bright and worldly. I have often wondered if most of them are ba’al teshuvahs and that is the reason that they write so well; they have had good educations and are able to give over their perspectives and philosophies as clearly as they do.
However, I have also often said that many things that they write are like fairy tales. Their perspectives on how the Chareidi life is if the way it’s supposed to be, rather than the way it really is. They say that they appreciate the chayalim, yet they don’t say the Tefillah for them. They say that learning is contributing to the safety of Eretz Yisrael, but really only some of them are learning the way that it’s supposed to be. Whenever they have modern orthodox people featured in their magazine, they somehow manage to say something that connects him (never a her) to the chareidim or Yeshivish people, even if this person is fully modern orthodox and lives a modern orthodox lifetstyle. I feel that they do this is order to justify their coverage of this person. I will continue this in the next post.
I am continuing from the former post.
I love Mishpacha Magazine because for the few hours (and I truly read it from cover to cover) I am brought into a world that is the way it’s supposed to be. But then I see the reality about the chareidim-how they just want to continue taking and just can’t see that they need to contribute to Israel. How they scoff at people who aren’t like them. How they misbehave when secular studies teachers try to teach them what they need to know to make a living. How Rabbi’s mishandle their power and money. And I realize that what I’m reading is not the way it really is.
I think that the poll represents these feelings and realizations. Secular Israeli’s have a perception that chareidim are supposed to be good and honest people and when they see that they’re not, they get very angry. I think that chareidim and Yeshivish people need to live up to their reputation. Not to ride on them, but to live up to them.
Any person who reads Israeli secular newspapers or listens to the media gets a completely different impression
Rabbi Lipman, I applaud you!!! Time for the Truth. The ramifications of this study is huge.
We have today the potential for the greatest kiruv project ever!!!
Kol Hakavod and a wonderful Yom Tov.
This man is in dream world if he thinks the hard core secularists that run the government are going to oblige to the frum. The only country in the world that has a mandatory draft for women. We don’t need to imagine to much what goes on there. First there making it for the boys. Next all the frum girls. It’s basically shmad Hashem yerachem!
Rabbi Lipman,Haredi Jews are not that stupid as you try to portray them.
Secular Jews going back hundreds of years became secular becuase they hate the idea of being religious and therefore they hate those who follow the torah.
Don’t lecture observant Jews how to behave and don’t ask us to live in harmony with secular Jews.We must not fight with secular Jews but they are not our friends and we don’t want to befriend secular Jews.
By mentioning Rabbi Akiva’s students you are a megaleh punim batorah sheloh kehalcha. They were tzadikim even with the disrespecting and secular Jews who eat trief who are mecholal shabbos in public have a din as non-Jews according to the schulcan orech.
Rabbi Lipman is a front man for Yair Lapid and secular Jews.He is ashamed with frum Jews and frum Jews are ashamed that he calls himself orthodox.
the reason we chareidim are convinced that we are hated by the secularist’s is very simple,we project our own feelings towards them and therefore we have convinced ourselves that just like we hate them they must hate us,in other words us frummies we absolutely hate the non religious and we all know this is the g-d honest truth,heck we even hate each other,the chareidim like the Agudah despise the religious zionist’s,within the Agudah itself the lithuanian yeshiva world has split off and created their own Degel Hatorah faction and have been at each other throats for almost 20 years,and recently the yeshiva world has again split into two between
the followers of harav Shteinman and harav Auerbach,an of course by the chasidim it is much worse,satmar hates belz hates klausenburg,and hates everyone who is not from their gang,in satmar itself it has already split into three factions,where the two brothers have been fighting each other in secular court for over 15 years,in Bobov it’s not better they split into two and are savaging each other for the last 7 years,same thing in Chabad and KLausenburg where the two brothers don’t talk to each other.
no wonder everyone hates us,