The "million-man march," in which hundreds of thousands of haredim will participate on Sunday, is a test drive for Israeli society. Its ability to respect the "other," its commitment to include this other and be bound by the legal system -- this seemingly self-contradicting mission is not easy. It is almost like the ancient challenge of squaring the circle. Obviously, the police and emergency services, like Magen David Adom and firefighters, must call in just the right amount of staff to allow the protesters to express themselves, but also to prevent them from breaking through the barricades and spreading outside of the designated area. There will be vile things shouted at the rally, such as "Nazis," and false claims will be made, like saying Torah study has been outlawed. The police will be required to exercise maximum restraint while using an iron fist to prevent extremists from taking control of the streets, and they may have to mercifully lead protesters to the hospital. Once can assume that among the protest leaders, there are haredim that will only see the undertaking as a success if things turn violent and television cameras can show the injured and the exhausted demonstrators powerless to move to safety through the road blocks. This demonstration is inevitable and is not conditional on the equal sharing of the burden law. The majority of MK Ayelet Shaked's committee made every effort to stand by the requirements of the rule of law and the demand for equality, delaying and easing the punishments and providing the haredim with a reason to integrate in its implementation. But they -- not all of them, but the extremists among their leadership which drew in the others -- refused ahead of time to do their part in straightening things out. Only someone interested in self-delusion would believe that another concession will lead to a law that both sides are happy with. The extremist haredi side is not interested in anything beyond its obligations. A warning is also needed. Just as every enlightened secular person and national religious person understands the difficulty the haredim face in parting with the brazen preference given to them -- they also understand that their rejectionism is met with deep rage from secular and religious people who carry the security burden. If the rabbis do not make sure to stop the community that calls crowds to the squares and to take control from the hands of the rabbi who is likely to engage violently with the police and other citizens, the Knesset may not approve the Shaked committee's recommendations, but instead it will implement true equality, simple and clear: "All our youth defend the homeland." The million-man march carries with it important and interesting tests for Israeli society. The haredim going to the rally are considering what they have to gain from it. That's fine. As long as they don't ignore the question of what they have to lose.
