Bridging the haredi-secular divide

Haredim and Israelis belong to two separate camps, says Dudi Zilbershlag ahead of a panel titled ‘Relations Between Haredim and Israeli Society’ at the Lo Bashamayim Festival.

By BARRY DAVIS
Shem Tov Levy’s crew (photo credit: Courtesy)
Shem Tov Levy’s crew
(photo credit: Courtesy)
This year’s Lo Bashamayim Festival, as the previous 14 editions, offers the public an eclectic range of activities and areas to ponder and explore, as well as several quality entertainment spots.
The three-dayer starts on Sunday and will be based at Tel Hai Academic College in the Upper Galilee. It features an impressive lineup of speakers and moderators, including some of the country’s top academics, such as Tel Aviv University professor of philosophy and linguistics Asa Kasher; Bar-Ilan University lecturer in Jewish philosophy, military affairs correspondent and former director-general of late prime minister Yitzhak Rabin’s office, Eitan Haber; and Israel Democracy Institute researcher Rabbi Benjamin Lau. The festival will also host top men and women of letters, including poet Agi Mishol and writer Amir Gutfreund, and there will be plenty of stellar musical professionals strutting their stuff over the three days, in the form of veteran flutist-pianist-vocalist Shem Tov Levy, rocker Rami Fortis, crooner Hanan Yovel, haredi jazz saxophonist Daniel Zamir and haredi singer songwriter Shuli Rand.
the headlines last week when a haredi youngster in IDF uniform was attacked by local residents when en route to visit relatives in Mea She’arim.
The police who came to rescue the soldier were subjected to verbal abuse and were pelted with stones.
Zilbershlag is a firm supporter of IDF service for haredim and himself served in the IDF rabbinate. He says there is much work to be done to bring the ultra-Orthodox community into the fold of Israeli society and observes that, by and large, there is very little in the way of an interface between the haredi sector and the rest of the country. “Israelis and haredim are two separate camps,” he says. “That is why I don’t call haredim Israelis.”
Then again, Zilbershlag says he does not sit around pondering the chasm between the two “camps,” and demonstrates his credentials for taking part in the Lo Bashamayim session.
“Over the last 20 years, under the influence of the home in which I grew up, I have invested a lot of effort in the trying to integrate haredim in Israeliness. I worked with the Joint [Distribution Committee] on setting up employment centers for haredim, and I supported the establishment of the haredi Nahal army unit. Long before there was a wider understanding of the topic, I firmly believed in the necessity for establishing a haredi Israeli school of thought.”
Demographics also come into play, and add urgency to Zilbershlag’s efforts. “Haredi society is no longer such a minority. It is becoming a very prominent minority and, according to all sorts of surveys, by the 2028 the haredim and the Arabs will become the dominant sectors here. Because of that, I thought that the haredim had to take their place in Israeli society, firstly in the job market, and also in terms of paying their way. It can only work in that order.”
Zilbershlag says he is by nature an optimist, but that his sunny outlook is often tempered by various parties willing to throw their spanners in the works. “There are irresponsible politicians, the same people who are destroying this country – people like [former defense minister] Ehud Barak, and others who have passed on – who constantly mess things up. I really believed Barak would do something to bring all parts of Israeli society together, but that didn’t happen. I really believed there would be a change [for the better] despite the politicians.”
On a more positive note, Zilbershlag says he received encouragement from “a senior IDF officer” who expressed great concern over last week’s attack on the haredi soldier.
Zilbershlag says the attack, and similar acts of aggression and fierce criticism of the state, are not doing anyone any favors. “The anti-Zionist minority in the haredi sector is potentially catastrophic both for the haredi community and also for the State of Israel. But people should know that the haredi community as a whole has taken some very significant steps towards becoming Israeli, and it is no simple matter. My father was a staunch haredi, but he served in the IDF, was a combat medic and was awarded medals and citations. He was in favor of integrating in Israeliness, on the condition that it did not impinge on the haredi aspect.”
Recent events, says Zilbershlag, are not helping the cause of people like him who want to see the haredi community become an organic part of Israeli society. “There are all sorts of haredim who should speak out against this violence. They really should. This not helping the haredi community either.”
There is a suitably expansive swath of topics on offer at the festival, including a look at the impact of late prime minister David Ben-Gurion on the shape of the modern State of Israel, 40 years after his death; a discussion about the enduring fallout of the Yom Kippur War, and how the country handled the sharp transition from the post-Six Day War euphoria to the trauma of the 1973 war; and some incisive forays into the inner workings of the biblical texts and Jewish philosophy, featuring lecturer on Jewish culture and identity Dr.
Rina Havlin and stand-up comedienne Sarah Shamir, while Kabbala lecturer Dr. Shelly Goldberg will take a look at female leadership in the Bible.
One of the more intriguing, and potentially explosive, program sessions goes by name of “Relations Between Haredim and Israeli Society.” The speaker panel includes spiritual leaders and academics from across the spectrum of society, and includes Rabbi Ronen Neuwirth, writer and media personality Sarah Blau, media communications lecturer Dr. Yuval Dror and haredi journalist, publicist and businessman Dudi Zilbershlag.
The latter is one of the more colorful characters in the Lo Bashamayim lineup and has appeared regularly in the media in recent years, for a variety of reasons.
He has been an outspoken critic of the haredi community’s tendency to shun and even revile the IDF and community members who choose to serve in the army, and was infamously caught up in legal proceedings with a former colleague in the Meir Panim soupkitchen venture.
The military issue sadly returned to the headlines last week when a haredi youngster in IDF uniform was attacked by local residents when en route to visit relatives in Mea She’arim.
The police who came to rescue the soldier were subjected to verbal abuse and were pelted with stones.
Zilbershlag is a firm supporter of IDF service for haredim and himself served in the IDF rabbinate. He says there is much work to be done to bring the ultra-Orthodox community into the fold of Israeli society and observes that, by and large, there is very little in the way of an interface between the haredi sector and the rest of the country. “Israelis and haredim are two separate camps,” he says. “That is why I don’t call haredim Israelis.”
Then again, Zilbershlag says he does not sit around pondering the chasm between the two “camps,” and demonstrates his credentials for taking part in the Lo Bashamayim session.
“Over the last 20 years, under the influence of the home in which I grew up, I have invested a lot of effort in the trying to integrate haredim in Israeliness. I worked with the Joint [Distribution Committee] on setting up employment centers for haredim, and I supported the establishment of the haredi Nahal army unit. Long before there was a wider understanding of the topic, I firmly believed in the necessity for establishing a haredi Israeli school of thought.”
Demographics also come into play, and add urgency to Zilbershlag’s efforts. “Haredi society is no longer such a minority. It is becoming a very prominent minority and, according to all sorts of surveys, by the 2028 the haredim and the Arabs will become the dominant sectors here. Because of that, I thought that the haredim had to take their place in Israeli society, firstly in the job market, and also in terms of paying their way. It can only work in that order.”
Zilbershlag says he is by nature an optimist, but that his sunny outlook is often tempered by various parties willing to throw their spanners in the works. “There are irresponsible politicians, the same people who are destroying this country – people like [former defense minister] Ehud Barak, and others who have passed on – who constantly mess things up. I really believed Barak would do something to bring all parts of Israeli society together, but that didn’t happen. I really believed there would be a change [for the better] despite the politicians.”
On a more positive note, Zilbershlag says he received encouragement from “a senior IDF officer” who expressed great concern over last week’s attack on the haredi soldier.
Zilbershlag says the attack, and similar acts of aggression and fierce criticism of the state, are not doing anyone any favors. “The anti-Zionist minority in the haredi sector is potentially catastrophic both for the haredi community and also for the State of Israel. But people should know that the haredi community as a whole has taken some very significant steps towards becoming Israeli, and it is no simple matter. My father was a staunch haredi, but he served in the IDF, was a combat medic and was awarded medals and citations. He was in favor of integrating in Israeliness, on the condition that it did not impinge on the haredi aspect.”
Recent events, says Zilbershlag, are not helping the cause of people like him who want to see the haredi community become an organic part of Israeli society. “There are all sorts of haredim who should speak out against this violence. They really should. This not helping the haredi community either.”