With all the crap and mundanity that fills the blogosphere, it's hard to remember sometimes that valuable pearls can be posted as well. HonestlyFrum's latest piece on Gilad Shalit raises an important point worth repeating over and over:
Last week marked the 4th year that Gilad Shalit has been held captive by our enemy oppressors. Not a day goes by when Gilad is not in our tephilos and thoughts. However where is the outrage from the Jewish community? A few parents go to jail for breaking the law and keeping their kids segregated in school and the so called geldolei harrabonim call for protests and riots and a hundred thousand charedim take to the streets. Rubashkin is looking at a long prison term and in America and tehillim rallies are called as well as conference calls and speeches. Yet Gilad Shalit sits alone in a prison cell somewhere and there are no mass tehillim gatherings or rallies. There are no conference calls or protests. Time and again the international court has called for his release and time and again Hamas and the Arabs ignore the calls and defy the requests and we sit back silently. Before President Bush left office R' Pesach Lerner called on everyone to email and fax the white house to try and secure the release of a spy and traitor to the country, yet I have not heard one call from the National Counsel to pressure the White House on Gilad Shalit's behalf.
Why is there this double standard? On the one hand the community is called to go all out for charedi criminals and law breakers yet when it comes to Gilad Shalit only a handfull of people turn out in the streets of Israel on his behalf.
Would there be this much apathy if he wore a hat?
Let's review, shall we? In the last year the Agudah, the Gedolim and the Chareidi public has rallied for the following causes:
1) To save a convicted cop-killer from death row
2) To save a convicted tax fraud with a track record of cruelty to workers and animals
3) To defend Ashenazi racists who define being Sephardi as being religiously inferior
These are the great challenges our brethren to the right have taken upon themselves. However, for a religious (but non-Chareidi) soldier who was involved in the mitzvah of defending Eretz Yisrael and now fulfills the criteria for pidyon sh'vuyim? Not a peep. Not a care.
Here's my suggestion. I am going to provide some links to relevant posts on Cross-Currents. Go and leave a simple comment on each one: Why isn't Gilad Shalit as worthy of your attention? Given their strict "We won't post any comment that doesn't agree with us" policy it's doubtful we'll see the results of our efforts on our screens but perhaps a message will be sent.
An Elegant Afterword on Emmanuel
Ethnic Prejudice Neither Ethnic Nor Prejudice
Agudath Yisrael Reacts to Rubashkin Sentencing
Navonim - The Ramblings of Garnel Ironheart
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11 comments:
I think you're basically correct here. I'd offer as a possible explanation (if not much of an excuse) for the behavior you describe that protests, demonstrations, agitation, complaining, etc. is generally thought to be more effective against democracies than against organizations like Hamas. I suppose one could even say that, when the so called gedolim denounce you as a nazi and insist that your actions are ungodly and against Torah, they're paying you the (implicit) compliment of assuming that those words might hurt your feelings enough to cause you to take action. It's hard to imagine that working with Hamas.
ditto
By which stretch of your imagination are you classifying Pollard and The FL case as Chareidi. I might add that the Chareidim were late arrivals on the Pollard case. The only foreign case I can think of was the Bochrim in Japan, but that was more of a fundraiser. As others have said previously , Hamas probably would be encouraged to further atrocities by American anger.
Personally being of Yeshivisha stock, I wouldn't drink wine if Rubashkin touched the bottle and I cringe at the idea of supporting a spy. The issue in both cases is that the penalty exceeded the norms and these people were being singled out for special treatment.
I suspect the Florida case was pushed by Alef (which is a chabad orginization) to avoid the kind of remarks you're making.
Did I mention Pollard?
Whom were you talking about
"R' Pesach Lerner called on everyone to email and fax the white house to try and secure the release of a spy and traitor to the country, "
In the order listed in the post:
1) Martin Grossman
2) Sholom Rubashkin
3) The Slonimer Chasidim
The problem with Pollard is it seems Pollard was in the classified information business before he spied for Israel an it seems Pollard's spying may have led to the execution of American spies.
This is pretty sick stuff. Criminals get a heroes welcome in Lakewood, yet they can't get a few people out for Gilad.
Of all the stupid criticisms one could level against Charedim, this is perhaps one of the most moronic.
Let's say Mr. Ironheart were to get off his oversized tuchus (instead of talking out of it) and actually do something like organize a rally. Hamas would send him a commendation, because they *want* Israelis to press for his release at all costs, no matter how many might be murdered by the Hamas terrorists released in exchange.
Shalit, as a soldier in the Israeli army, supposedly has the full power and resources of the Israeli government behind him... yet the Charedim are supposed to do what the government will not?
It's stupid. But if your agenda has nothing to do with Shalit's freedom but is instead about bashing Charedim, anything will do.
P.S. Mishpacha magazine's cover story this week is "Moving Past Their Grief', about those expelled from Gush Katif and how they are rebuilding against all odds. Another article is, imagine this, about Shalit and why Israeli Intelligence has failed him. Really sounds like the charedim only care about themselves, doesn't it.
Who said anything about a rally? Why is it that when the Mumbai Chabad family was being held hostage I got an urgent call from my local shaliach asking me to say tehillim for them while when Shalit was kidnapped I got nothing? No recognition, no announcements about a fellow Jew in trouble, nothing.
Why all the desperate essays supporting Rubashkin? Why is no one writing about how we should all be saying tehillim and focusing our prayers on a safe return for Gilad? WHY?
Mishpacha magazine? Please. When the actual explusion was happening, where were they? Rav Yonasan Rosenblum himself noted in an article at the time that the biggest problem the Chareidim had with it was the loss of bug-free lettuc they would have to suffer with. When there were rallies against the expulsion, where were the Chareidim because they sure didn't come out. Now years later they're writing about it?
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