"Do everything you can to ensure the future of the people and the country."
Rabbi Haim Drukman established a generation and paved the way for the religious Zionist movement in many areas. Apart from the love of Torah and love of Israel, he has a great message here for today's youth
By Ariel Horowitz – Arutz
Sheva, Small World Magazine, 12 Nissan 5775, 01/04/15 (Translation)
Rabbi Drukman sees his
main occupation as an educator and teacher of Torah. His natural environment
is the house of study, lecturing his students. Nevertheless, much of his
public activity was in the Knesset. Rabbi Drukman was a member of Knesset for
the National Religious Party, and for a certain period he resigned and founded
the ‘Moreshet’ faction. "Serving in the Knesset was for me like doing
reserve duty [in the army]," he says, "Every Jew is expected to do
reserve duty. I didn’t want to be in the Knesset; I wasn’t looking for a public
position, but I was called, so I went."
"Our relationship should
be like a family. We are all one big family, which has a difference of opinion,
but with love. What unites the people of Israel is far greater than what
separates us. We say in the Passover Haggadah, “In every generation they try to
destroy us." For those who are trying to destroy us, there is no
difference between religious and secular, between leftists and rightists. We
need to learn from our enemies that we need to be united. Certainly we have a [religious] lifestyle
in common with the ultra-Orthodox, although I am sorry to say that I am not
sure they think so. You can see this in their newspaper: any Haredi politician,
no matter how small, who is elected to the Knesset, is referred to as a great ‘Rabbi’, even if he has no rabbinic qualifications, whereas when writing about our [religious Zionist] rabbis, they omit the title altogether.
In our study halls you can find all the books of Torah erudition, but in the Haredi study halls you won’t find any books written by giants of Torah who were Zionists. Can you name one Haredi yeshiva with the books of Rabbi Kook on the shelf? Not books of Jewish Thought, nor books of Jewish Law. My heart aches, but it does not change the fact that we are a family. I'm not saying it's easy, but you have to overcome the difficulties. I would hope that if ordinary Haredim would recognize us as we are, it would be different. You have to get to know one another. Our Haredi brothers and our secular brothers have to get to know us and we have to get to know them."
Go on to Part 3: Influencing Public Values
When Rabbi Drukman cried
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YBA Chairman, Rabbi Haim Druckman |
This public service was
indeed forced upon Rabbi Drukman. One day, near Passover, Rabbi Drukman
traveled to Jerusalem to bake matzot. He was already aware that some
activists wanted him to run for the Knesset, and the natural address to make
that happen was Rabbi Kook. He rushed to the home of Rabbi Zvi Yehuda to
tell him that his mission is to educate, and that he has no desire to go to the
Knesset. Rabbi Zvi Yehuda listen to his words, but a few hours later he was
called again to the rabbi’s home in the Geula neighborhood. "I went
in and found those who wanted me to run for the Knesset were there. Rabbi Zvi Yehuda had listened to them, and told me I should go for it. When he said that, I burst into tears, but
I accepted his ruling." The Rosh Yeshiva traded the Beit Midrash for
the Knesset, but managed to continue at the same time to teach Torah.
Do you think that rabbis
should intervene in politics? Is the role of the rabbis limited to the Beit
Midrash, or in all walks of life?
"The bottom line is
that it depends on who it is," says Rabbi Drukman. "Ideally, Torah personalities
should be found everywhere, but it’s not always appropriate. I don’t think that
just because someone has been ordained as a rabbi it makes him qualified to deal
with every subject. But if there are Torah personalities who could lead the
public not only in the synagogue but also in the Knesset, the fact that he is
also a rabbi is not a detriment. In fact, it is even a bonus."
Rabbi Drukman doesn’t
only expect Torah personalities to serve in the Knesset, he also also expects a political
united front for religious Zionism. The current split, he says, does not add
much respect for the Torah of Israel. "Religious Zionism should be
cohesive, and [if so,] its political representation will be in proportion with its
real power," he says. "There are religious people integrated
into the larger parties, and one reason for this is our success in education. Some
people who grew up in the religious Zionist camp think there is no longer any need for a
sectorial political party; that it is possible to exert influence in every
party. I think they are wrong. Experience shows that a religious person in
another party can influence society only an individual, but not collectively.
The State of Israel needs a large religious Zionist party, where everything is
rooted in the value of a Torah that is connected to the People, the Land and
the State of Israel. This is the image of a true Torat Eretz Yisrael. This [unified political camp] will bring
great blessings for the Torah and for the country as a whole. The present situation, where there is no unified religious Zionist party, is felt in many
ways."
You can’t be counted a minyan
(quorum)
One area where
Rabbi Drukman has a lot to say is conversion. In 2003, with his leaving
the Knesset, Rabbi Drukman began a new role as head of the state’s conversion authority
in the Prime Minister’s Office. His [relatively liberal] attitude toward conversion upset the Haredi
public officials, which came to a head when Rabbi Avraham Sherman, a judge on
the Rabbinical Supreme Court ruled in 2008 that the conversions of Rabbi Drukman
should be revoked immediately. He soon became a persona non-grata among
the ultra-Orthodox community, which was clearly demonstrated when he visited
one day the well-known Itzkowitz Shteibel (synagogue) in the heart of Bnei
Brak. "I entered one of the rooms of the shteibel and besides me
there were eight Jews. When the tenth man showed up, I said, 'We have a minyan
(quorum), you can start [the prayer service].' But then someone said, 'You
cannot be counted in a minyan; we have to wait for one more.' I remember I
was so shocked, that I couldn’t manage to pull myself together until another
Jew came in and we began to pray. If it wasn’t so painful and distressing, it would
have been funny. I can’t be counted in a minyan?!"
But the ultra-Orthodox
community, in their eyes at least, is motivated by fear of Heaven. They object
to your method of conversion.
"Even if someone
thinks otherwise, those who practice a second method have a basis in Halacha
(religious law). How can you cancel out-of-hand all these conversions if they
were made in accordance legitimate halachic opinion you can trust? Moreover,
the judge who rejected my conversions announced his decision in public, at a
convention of rabbinical judges, clearly mentioning my name, without having
talked to me even one word beforehand. How can a judge rule without hearing all
sides? How can he offhandedly mention my name, in a forum of hundreds of
rabbinical judges, without first having consulted with me? How is it possible
to speak about me in such harsh and sharp language? Is this proper? Is this the
way of the Torah?! "
What does this story
show us regarding our relations with the Haredim?
In our study halls you can find all the books of Torah erudition, but in the Haredi study halls you won’t find any books written by giants of Torah who were Zionists. Can you name one Haredi yeshiva with the books of Rabbi Kook on the shelf? Not books of Jewish Thought, nor books of Jewish Law. My heart aches, but it does not change the fact that we are a family. I'm not saying it's easy, but you have to overcome the difficulties. I would hope that if ordinary Haredim would recognize us as we are, it would be different. You have to get to know one another. Our Haredi brothers and our secular brothers have to get to know us and we have to get to know them."
Go on to Part 3: Influencing Public Values
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