Rabbi Argue Like Children

Here is a paragraph from a post by cross -currents:


"In the period immediately preceding the declaration of the State, Ben Gurion reached an accord with R. Yitzchak Meir Levin zt”l [the status quo agreement] delineating certain limited areas where the State would recognize the primacy of Torah over secular norms – most notably in family law. Ben Gurion understood, as his subsequent silent agreement to accept the Chazon Ish’s view on giyus banot (conscription of women) would suggest, that there were areas that demanded that the secular majority forego its natural rights, perhaps recognizing that the State would only be viable if it gave Torah a visible role. Many have speculated about Ben Gurion’s motivations; whatever they were it formed the basis for a modus vivendi that held up for a considerable number of years.

Read more: http://www.cross-currents.com/archives/2010/06/20/we-are-all-emanuel/#ixzz0rafStMw7
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution"




Here are problems with the argument:


1) The Haredi Jews despise Ben-Gurion. These orthodox Jews talk about Ben-Gurion like he was the devil. Except when they can find one point that they like, when he made a verbal agreement with a rabbi, then all of a sudden Ben-Gurion was a god who must be obeyed beyond the letter of the law. The orthodox are complete fakes who would ignore all the evil they attribute to Ben-Gurion if they can get their thirty pieces of silver.


2) He said so: the same argument my kids make. The fact is whatever Ben-Gurion said in a private deal with a rabbi has no relevance today. The state of Israel is not a theme park for jews and Ben-Gurion was not the King of the Jews who made a law for all time. Ben-Gurion was a man and a politician who was instrumental in the founding of the state. However, just because he said so does not make it so. The state of Israel is a real state with real laws and real systems and reals courts. The orthodox don't get to ignore all that developed in the creation of a country and rely on the flimsy protexia of the words of a single man who they hate from a time long gone by.


The facts are this: Israel is a real country with real laws. The public school system is the public's schools system. If the orthodox would like a school that demands that dark skinned children need to prove their worth before admittance, they may be able to do that in a private setting. But the words of one man to a rabbi should have no bearing on the developed state that exists today. It is the height of foolish arrogance to demand that a public system should not be subject to public oversight.