Since the establishment of the state, there have been calls to separate religion and state. The leading proponent of this policy was a kippah-wearing observant man, Professor Yeshayahu Leibowitz. He claimed that David Ben-Gurion's intent, in his "status quo" religious legislation, was to subsume the Jewish religion to the secular regime. "He wanted to exercise a tight rein on the rabbis, by financial means," Leibowitz claimed. In his view, it is preferable for religion to be in opposition to the secular regime and not to surrender or to make compromises with it. Neturei Karta believes the same from the opposite side of the political spectrum. In its view, religious Jews must not participate in elections or receive money from the government based on tax refunds.
Those who live abroad can toy with the theory of separating religion and state and even apply it. They can say to their countries' rulers: I want nothing to do with the state. But whoever lives in Israel, Jewish or Arab, is forced to pay taxes and to help provide income to the country's rulers and bureaucrats in the public sector. We're talking about a half-million civil servants who make a living from tax money, as opposed to millions of citizens who make a living in the private sector. Those with theories à la Leibowitz or extremist views like Neturei Karta must not be ideological purists at the expense of those Jews living in Zion under a secular regime.
All of the injustices and crimes against the Torah of Israel are based on laws passed by a majority of votes in the Knesset. Therefore the haredi public is compelled to take part in the elections and to fight in the Knesset and local councils for the rights of religious people and for the status of Torah in a democratic country, even if that country is not sufficiently Jewish.
Ben-Gurion and his generation were not religious, but neither were they stupid. They created the "status quo" and religious legislation not out of coercion, but out of a desire to unify a nation comprised of many diasporas and cultures. They understood that Israel's moral right to exist for Jews, and international recognition of the state, depend on the state's connection to the Torah and its heritage. Therefore they created a complex relationship between the Torah and the state with the goal of giving a Jewish flavor to the secular state, a combination that both Leibowitz and Neturei Karta view as a contradiction in terms.
Indeed, this was not a natural connection, but it held for more than 50 years. Now aggressive leaders have risen up and in the name of "new politics" they wish to undermine everything and to cut off the existential foundation of the Jewish state.
In a totalitarian regime, the ruler decides a nation's values. In the past, Libyan President Moammar Gadhafi, and at present, Syrian President Bashar Assad, do not grapple with dilemmas of religion and state. If you are not loyal to the ruler's values, you can be put to death. In Israel too, a new generation has risen up that does not know Joseph. These new rulers believe you can impose anti-religious coercion through state violence.
In the Knesset, these secularists pass anti-religious laws and carry out draconian decrees against the haredim as part of their war against Jewish religion and education. They use all the economic, legal and mainly media weapons at their disposal.
The Torah of Israel and the eternal people will survive all enemies from within and without. It is the State of Israel whose right to exist as a Jewish and democratic state will suffer from the disconnect from Jewish heritage.
Rabbi Yisrael Eichler is a member of the Knesset for United Torah Judaism.
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