I’ve noticed lately that the great Orthodox publications – and there are many of them – have run out of hot-button issues to headline. Maybe that’s good news: no tragedies to report on. Baruch Hashem, things have been relatively quiet in Israel, outside of the usual low-level Arab terror. But that’s ho-hum. No major breakthroughs in world events, even though major elections in the US and Israel are upon us. Jewish positions are quite well established, with no major turf battles taking place between Jews, i.e., Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox. (While that is true here in the United States, the battle for recognition of non-Orthodoxy is still being fought in Yerushalayim at the Kosel Plaza).
Within Orthodoxy, approaches to Zionism, secular education, and kollel life have all been settled, with each stream of Yiddishkeit practicing its beliefs without condemnation from an opposing view. The only exception may be Open Orthodoxy, which continues to bring Orthodoxy outside the Orthodox realm in favor of liberal values.
The relative calm in the Orthodox community is welcome news. But it makes it tough for the Orthodox media, which, like all media, needs sensational things to happen to maintain its relevancy. I remember my father once relating that in post-War England, where my grandfather for a while published a frum newspaper, the paper ran into a dry spell regarding stories to cover. Reb Avrohom Twerski a”h, an editor for the paper, came complaining to my grandfather (in Yiddish): “Reb Shabse, it’s terrible! No one is trying to kill Jews now. There’s nothing to write about!”
So, the highbrow weekly Orthodox magazines are highlighting random people who have made some kind of contribution to Jewish life.
I have an idea for these publications. How about doing a feature story on Jewish anti-Semitism? Start with Israel. Some of the leading opponents of Israel are Jews. George Soros, who funds every left-wing cause, including those that despise Israel, is classic. On the political front, there is good old Bernie Sanders, who of course claims to love Israel but joins in every condemnation of the state that he comes across. And the Jews of Vermont continue to vote for him. On college campuses, countless Jewish kids have joined Muslims and other anti-Semites in boycotting Israel and any representatives of Israel (i.e., Jews).
Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream, founded by two Jewish men, singles out Israel for boycotting, while ignoring all the social ills practiced in this and other countries that contravene their sacredly held liberal values.
Some of the most vicious journalism against Israel and Jews comes from Jewish-owned media like The New York Times and from Jewish journalists like Thomas Friedman and Roger Cohen.
Now we find Orthodoxy as a group under attack with impunity. The chareidi world is being sued by the Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York to introduce secular studies in their curriculum. Of course, the battle was spearheaded by an organization called Yaffed, established by disgruntled Orthodox Jews. Yeshiva University is undergoing a bruising legal battle by an LGBTQ group comprised largely of Orthodox students who want to have their club given the same recognition as other campus groups.
Last week, a local television news station in Florida ran a story about a gated community in Hollywood that passed an ordinance forbidding the construction of a sukkah on one’s property. As the station pointed out, there is no such ordinance against Halloween displays. As I was watching the clip, I said to myself, this anti-Semitic ruling must be led by a Jew. Who else could be so blatantly anti-Jewish? Sure enough, they interviewed the Jewish woman behind the ordinance, who exclaimed, “I have nothing against a sukkah; I’m Jewish myself!” How pathetically predictable.
Of course, invariably, all opposition to an eruv in a community stems from Jews.
Jewish self-hatred is nothing new. Beginning with Dasan and Aviram in Egypt, and throughout the ages, some the greatest enemies of the Jews were from within our ranks. This was true of European and Sephardic Jewry for hundreds of years. This treachery was true during Nazi occupation by both European and American Jewry and, as we see, to this very day. Why does this seem to be unique among Jews?
So, Orthodox media… Here’s a great front cover story: “Understanding Jewish Self-Hatred.” I would love to read it.
Rabbi Yoel Schonfeld is the Rabbi Emeritus of the Young Israel of Kew Gardens Hills, President of the Coalition for Jewish Values, former President of the Vaad Harabonim of Queens, and the Rabbinic Consultant for the Queens Jewish Link.
