(Author: Aryeh Newman, Vol. 69, No. 1, Pesach 2014)
By Israeli law the validity of Jewish marriage, divorce and Orthodox conversion is governed by halacha as determined by the country’s chief rabbinate. In recent years, however, the Israeli chief rabbinate has become increasingly dominated by dayanim (religious judges) hailing from Haredi circles who follow an extreme literalistic interpretation of halacha. This has had the effect of feeding the existing widely spread hostility of those striving to delegitimize the State of Israel. In light of this, it is extremely important to correct this one-sided perspective and place on record the authentic halacha which guided the chief rabbinate from the days of its distinguished founder Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Kook and his religious Zionist successors, among them Chief Rabbis Uziel, Herzog and Goren.
The following citations from those medieval Torah scholars whom not even our most diehard religious extremist would dare to challenge are still surprisingly relevant:
The Jewish people may be subdivided into three separate groups as far as their respective approaches to the words of our Sages. The first group, who are by far the majority, will take them literally, however far-fetched the implication. For them, true faith means to accept even the impossible – a result of their shunning scientific and secular studies. Their foolishness is deplorable since they imagine that in this way they are exalting our Sages whereas it actually demeans them. This group discredits our faith and dims its radiance, the very opposite of the aim of the Divine laws. Their wisdom, God has assured us, will arouse the admiration of the nations of the world: ‘when they hear of them will say what a wise and understanding people is this great nation’ (Deut. 4,6). But when the civilized nations hear the literalistic interpretations of this group they will say, ‘What an ignorant and foolish people is this small-minded nation! The second group, which is also numerous, ridicules the words of our Sages by taking them literally too…The third group, very few indeed, [are those] whose deeper understanding of their underlying meaning confirm their conviction of the greatness and goodness of our Sages.
Maimonides, Introduction to Mishnah 7
Talmudic laws penalizing non-Jews only applied to those peoples not bound by recognised moral and religious norms. But it is absolutely forbidden in any way to discriminate against those who observe the Seven Laws of Noah and to favor ourselves. The same laws are applicable to all. This is obviously the case with the civilized nations, who are similarly disciplined by their religion and culture.
Meiri (1249-1316)
Circumstances Alter Cases
We are faced today with the literal application of Talmudic statements regarding the female voice, hair and parts of the arms and legs. All are considered ervah, i.e. sexually provocative, and therefore forbidden to the gaze and hearing of the Orthodox Jewish male. Just two examples of impeccable Orthodox practice down the ages will suffice to disqualify this literal approach, condemned in no uncertain terms by Maimonides (the Rambam, to use his traditional Jewish title). The interpretation of the statement obligating the covering of a women’s hair plainly applies in the Talmud, Maimonides’ Code and the Shulchan Aruch to all females, married or single. Yet it became acceptable from medieval times in Europe to limit hair covering to married women, as is the Haredi practice today. When questioned about its legitimacy, the renowned Torah authority Rabbenu Hananel (990–1055) replied that all these prohibitions were based on whether they aroused unchaste thoughts (hirhur). Since the Jewish communities were living in the Christian world where all decent unmarried women did not cover their hair, the sight of their hair no longer excited impure thoughts. Similarly, it has been the practice in non-Hassidic families for girls to sing Shabbat hymns, as noted by the renowned Torah authority Rabbi Weinberg in a well known responsum permitting the mixed activities of the Ezra Haredi Zionist youth movement. During my time in the Israeli army, there were a few Haredi soldiers, and none declined to be present during the official ceremonies, which included the female singing of the army entertainment troupe. As Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef has intimated, the unity of the people, irrespective of their standards of observance, takes precedence.
Last but not least, the citation from Meiri renders the work of the compilers of Torat Hamelech ruling that the lives of non-Jews are worth less in certain situations than that of Jews both obnoxious and totally irrelevant in this day and age.
Accentuate the Positive
It is asserted that the contemporary radicalization of the religious world is justified as a defense mechanism against the increasing permissiveness of postmodern society. The latter phenomenon has reinforced Haredi insularity and their calls for separation from the rest of a Jewish community tainted by its failure to observe their behavioral norms. Its members are unwelcome and regarded as a moral danger to the survival of their way of life which, in their view, alone exemplifies that of the authentic Jew.
I wish to suggest a positive approach, one that finds its expression in the following citations from Maimonides and Rabbi Kook, respectively:
We should not ostracise those who desecrate the Sabbath, nor hold them in contempt. On the contrary, we should welcome them and strive to endear Jewish observance to them. Indeed, our Sages have urged us to show them every courtesy whenever they are prompted to participate in the synagogue service and never to treat them with disrespect. Our Sages found support for this approach in the words of King Solomon (Proverbs 6.30): “Do not despise a thief if he steals”, implying too that we should not despise the transgressors of Israel when they are prompted to steal into the synagogue to pray – to ‘steal’ mitzvot.
(Iggeret Hashemad)
The genuinely good people do not deplore wickedness but spread good; do not deplore heresy but spread faith; do not deplore ignorance but spread wisdom.
(Rav I Kook)
Aryeh Newman is a former senior lecturer in English as a Foreign Language at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. A veteran commentator on the Israeli religious scene, he was involved in Torah education for the English speaking diaspora and has published widely on Linguistics and Judaica.
