It was the summer of 2005, about 13 years after I left my shul in Staten Island to become the assistant rabbi of the Young Israel of Kew Gardens Hills. It was also about a month before the expulsion of about 10,000 Jews from Gush Katif in Gaza under the direction of Ariel Sharon. At that time, I was invited by my friend Rabbi Moshe Meir Weiss, rav of the Agudas Yisroel of Staten Island at the time, to address their annual dinner.
In my remarks, I was questioning the silence of the Jewish establishment organizations over the impending doom of that wonderful community. I said, as well, that nothing good will come from this disengagement, as it was being executed without mercy and for no justifiable reason. I singled out the Orthodox Union at the time, despite my being employed by them. I was equally critical of Agudath Israel of America for its silence.
As I was speaking, the public relations spokesman for Agudath Israel got up with his wife and poignantly walked out on me. The next day, he circulated a letter to the community condemning me and my public disparagement of g’dolei Yisrael (rabbinic giants). I was quite puzzled, because I mentioned nothing about g’dolim or rabbanim from either lay organization.
He told me that if I disparage the Agudah, then ipso facto I disparage its rabbinic leadership. I could not disagree with him more. I told him that time will tell if I was right about the issue.
It didn’t take long, and I was proven tragically right. Within two years, Hamas took over Gaza and wrought years of untold suffering via missiles and terror to the Jewish state.
As my father zt”l would often say, quoting T’hilim (120:7): “I am for peace yet as I speak they are for war,” when referring to various peace talks with the Arabs that were doomed to failure, especially the Oslo Accords. It was more than obvious that the disengagement from Gaza would lead to disaster. In fact, in my opinion, this war should not be called the Simchas Torah War but the Sharon War. Thanks to Sharon’s surrender of Gaza, we are where we are today. That should not be forgotten.
The organizations argued that it is not our place to dictate to the Israeli government how they should conduct their military or political affairs. Reasonable enough. But I countered that the Torah community in Israel is shouting for help in stopping all these recipes for disaster. As religious Jews, we must come to their aid. But I was ignored and advised to wait and see.
During the Oslo years, only the National Council of Young Israel, under the leadership of Rabbi Pesach Lerner, and some other smaller organizations, went to Washington to protest Oslo and Gush Katif. All the wise people in Israel, including political heads and the common street people, thought Oslo was the coming of the Messiah. Those like Uzi Landau, who forecast death and destruction emanating from these agreements, were vilified as war mongers.
I ask myself, why is it that simple people like me, my friends, my family, and people who shared political views like mine were able to see that which giant political and religious people did not?
I came to realize that everyone has a blind spot. Sometimes it’s due to money. Sometimes to kavod (honor). Sometimes it’s party loyalty. And sometimes it’s because of one’s dedication to one’s personal dogma that is resistant to change.
One’s religious ideals can easily become an obstacle to objective analysis. For example, opposition to Zionism for religious reasons can be a disagreeable but legitimate outlook, as expressed by the Satmar Rebbe zt”l. However, once that ideal becomes an ultimate goal, regardless of facts on the ground, it can become the very avodah zarah (idol worship) it wishes to combat. The development of today’s pernicious and anti-Semitic Neturei Karta is an extreme example of what happens when one’s philosophy becomes the beginning and end all, despite the wrong it represents.
I try to be honest with myself as do most of us, without the blinders getting in the way. If we remove the coating from our eyes and try to follow the teachings of the Torah without an agenda, the view of what is good for Jews becomes clear. It doesn’t require genius or exceptional piety.
The prophet of my namesake, Yoel, declared: “A nation has entered my land, with the teeth of a lion…” (Yoel 1:6). The prophet concludes with, “…The Edomites will be laid to waste because of the “Hamas,” the destruction, it brought to Judah, as it spilled innocent blood in their land (Ibid 4:19).
The prophet of Hashem has no agenda. His words ring true now as they did then. Or, as we say during Chanukah: He performed miracles in those days as well as ours. May we be zocheh to see the complete vanquishing or our Hamas enemy in the coming days. Amein.
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.
