WZO and the Lakewood Leadership
A Post Deleted by VIN
On Friday, VosizNaies (VINnews) had an op-ed decrying a Lakewood Asifa against the WZO, which was subsequently deleted. I understand the reason for the deletion, and I absolutely disagree with the tone. That said, the letter served a valuable purpose and asks a good question. Luckily, I have the full text saved:
To the Roshei Yeshiva, Rabbanim, and community leaders of Lakewood,
Yesterday, second seder at Bais Medrash Govoha was cut short. Thousands of yungeleit were pulled from their gemaras and chaburos. For what? Not to mourn a tragedy. Not to rally in the face of a crisis shaking the very foundation of our kehilla. Not even to offer chizuk to a town weighed down by recent and ongoing tragedies.
When I heard seder was being stopped for a drasha, I assumed it was to declare a taanis. The Mishnah in Taanis (3:6) tells us: “They decreed a fast because wolves ate two children in Transjordan. Rabi Yosei says: Not because they ate them, but because they were merely seen.”
Our mesorah is clear: when danger lurks, when lives are at stake, we act. Even before tragedy strikes, we turn over the Earth. So I thought—surely, we were gathering because of the four-month-old baby who was tragically niftar just blocks from the bais medrash after being left in a car. A tragedy so fresh, so unspeakably painful, that the entire kehilla had to be urgently addressed.
But no. It was to hear drashos about the World Zionist Organization (WZO) election—an election that the overwhelming majority of them weren’t voting in anyway. An election so irrelevant to the lives of the bnei Torah in that room that had the Asifa never taken place, nothing would be different today. And yet, it was treated as the defining moral battle of our time.
Let’s talk about crises—the ones we refuse to name, the ones we refuse to confront.
How many suicides have we buried in Lakewood over the past year?
How many overdoses have left families shattered beyond repair?
How many divorces have torn apart homes, leaving children wandering between worlds?
How many yesomim have been added to our streets in the past year?
And what about the thousands—yes, thousands—of children and teenagers lost to us?
The ones smoking on Shabbos, scrolling through TikTok, slipping through our fingers while we waste time on irrelevancies.
Mental illness is rampant and ignored. Families are struggling to put food on their tables. There are streets in Lakewood that are a battleground of pikuach nefashos—life-and-death stakes playing out just beyond the walls of BMG.
And yet, this is what demands our attention? This is why we stop limud haTorah? An election that no one in the room was voting in anyway?
What has our leadership become?
The same leadership that chases fake kohanim, hunts down mamzeirim, rages against lace-top sheitels, and now fixates on the WZO has lost its way.
A baby hadn’t even been buried yet – one of numerous such tragedies that have befallen Lakewood – and we turned our backs to deliver drashos about something meaningless. We tuned out the cries in our own backyard to stand on a soapbox about an election that has no bearing on the lives of the people in that room.
How dare we call ourselves a Torah community when we ignore the wolves at our door?
The children are crying. The homes are breaking. The bodies are being buried. And yet, the great emergency of our time is an election that no one in this community was ever part of.
How did we get here? How did our leadership become so blind to what actually matters?
Stressed in Lakewood
VIN pulled it, and published R Yair Hoffman’s article in response:
Recently, an op-ed had appeared on VINNEWS regarding the WZO elections that in this author’s view significantly violated the boundaries of respectful discourse. There are certainly Gedolei HaDor that have expressed the view that it is a Mitzvah to vote in the WZO election – especially because a shaiv v’al taaaseh will result in Kfirah, hashchassah, and funding for Avodah Zarah in Eretz Yisroel. Leading Roshei Yeshiva from the top Torah institutions in the world have verbalized this. There are also Gedolei Torah that have expressed an opposing view.
But we Jews, live by the halachos in Shulchan Aruch. And the Shulchan Aruch (YD 243:6) is quite clear on this topic. “It is a grave sin to be mevazeh a Talmid Chacham (to degrade, disrespect, name-call a Torah scholar). Anyone who does so has no share in the World-to-Come. It is within the purview of the pasuk in BaMidbar 15:31, ‘For he has scorned the word of the L-rd.”
We find further insight and commentary in Gemorahs throughout Shas. The Gemorah in Shabbos 119b states: Rabbi Yehuda said: Jerusalem was destroyed only because they disparaged the Torah scholars in it, as it is stated: “And they mocked the messengers of Hashem and disdained His words and taunted His prophets, until the wrath of Hashem arose against His people, until it could not be healed” (Divrei HaYamim Bais 36:16). What is the meaning of: Until it could not be healed? Rav Yehuda said that Rav said: It means that anyone who disparages Torah scholars cannot be healed from his wound.
The Gemorah in Shabbos further states regarding a previous pasuk, “.. do My prophets no harm” (I Divrei haYamim Bais 16:22) – these are Torah scholars.”
SCOPE AND PARAMETERS OF BIZUI – DISRESPECTING
It is not only actions that are considered Bizui – but even writing or saying mere words
The Maharik (siman 334) writes that even acting with Chutzpah toward a Torah Scholar constitutes Bizui.
The notion of Bizui Talmidei Chachomim, according to the Tashbatz Vol. I Siman 178) also applies to Torah scholars discussing other Torah scholars.
It applies to men, women, children, regardless of whether the person embarrassing is either older or younger, or wealthier or poorer. There is an obligation upon the violator to be meratzeh the Talmid Chacham (See SA YD 343:7).
Our discourse should never cross the realm of proper and dignified behavior. But there is certainly no problem in following the view of the Gedolei haDor that did encourage participation in the WZO election.
NO NEED TO ADHERE TO THE AUTHORIAL INTENT
As far as the question of the particular language that one must click in order to vote – nowhere is it written that one must one accept the authorial intent that any particular author had in mind when something was written. When the State of Israel’s very Declaration of Independence was signed by Agudas Yisroel’s representative, Rav Yitzchok Meir Levine zt”l, brother-in-law of the Ger Rebbe this issue came up – regarding the term “Rock of Israel.” “Tzion” is a term used by the great prophets of Klal Yisroel, Yishayahu is just one example in his words, “LeMaan Tzion lo Echesheh.”
Yes, precisely because we are concerned about the ruchniyus of the Jewish people – that there be no more yaldei Teheran and yaldei Teiman – where babies in hospitals were kidnapped and their parents told that they had died and other young religious Jews were ripped away from their Torah birthright by people who represent everything that is anti-thetical to Torah-true Judaism – the very people that will benefit from Torah Jews not voting is what allows voters to employ the anglicized version of the very term that Yishayahu HaNavi used.
And as for the second animadversion, that one must support national service for those not in the army – there are many types of national service including chessed and reciting brachos (See Rashi brachos 34a). There is no special Mitzvah in adhering to the authorial intent of those who wrote the language of the particular document.
BESIDE THE POINT
All this, however, is beside the point that a disrespectful op-ed should never have been posted and we must at all times adhere to the highest standards of respect toward others – especially when dealing with great Torah scholars and leaders.
The author can be reached at yairhoffman2@gmail.com
If you notice, the main point of the letter - why are our leadership focusing on the WZO over the expense of other issues, (and the original letter even left off the hostages, who are in tremendous sakana now that the war restarted) is left unaddressed.
Here is my completely, totally cynical and nasty response: (IF YOU DO NOT LIKE THAT STOP READING NOW):
Because they went to Brisk in Eretz Yisroel, and learnt that being a godol means fighting the “tziyonim”.
See Aufgeklert’s great article below:
In the past, a godol would have learned in America, and learned about the great askanus of Mike Tress and the other gedolim of the era (including R Ahron Kotler Ztk’l). Now, the gedolim learn in Brisk and similar places and learn that the ikkur gadlus of the past dor was fighting the tziyonim arurim. Unfortunately, it is very hard to do that sort of thing in America, especially 75 years later.
Now that the WZO elections are here, it is a golden opportunity to be mekayim this rare mitzva of fighting the tziyonim, and we need to celebrate with asifos, booklets, websites, and front-page newspaper articles. It’s a once in a lifetime mitzva! When else can we wipe out Amalek mamash? Would the letter writer be upset if they had an asifa and left the bes medrash for birchas hachama?
Of course the leadership will eventually confront the other issues. After all, we already have a wider route nine and tuition relief? Right? Right?
An old related post:
Can someone help me understand why the op-ed was a Bizui of a Talmud chacon and not just a criticism?
I don't know if Brisk has that much to do with it.
It is simply an elitist attitude which happens to correspond with the kind of bachur who goes to Brisk.
And don't worry, that article reflected the feeling of perhaps most rabbanim in Lakewood.