Comments on: Shtadlanus: A Matter of Perspective

By: joel rich

joel rich — Thu, 18 May 2006 17:05:51 +0000

What is the most effective form of advocacy for the Torah community to adopt vis-à-vis governmental authorities? Is it behind the scenes advocacy or public confrontation? The answer, as Rabbi Elazar Menachem Schach once said, in a different context, is: There is no rule. It all depends on the situation.

Other groups in the chareidi community, however, chose a more confrontational tack.

From the beginning, the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah recognized
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Assumedly the “other groups” took this tack based on how their “gedolim” viewed the situation. So does it come down to a my gadol is bigger than your gadol? As a side issue, aren’t both groups following Daas Torah as they understand it or is it logically impossible for both to be right? Does the final result (one could argue that the result is not yet final or that the other approach would heve resulted in an even better result) determine which approach was “right?
KT

By: YM

YM — Thu, 18 May 2006 17:05:12 +0000

I read the article when I received my copy of the Jewish Observer, and after reading it, I felt good about my aspiration to be an “Agudath Jew”.

By: Bob Miller

Bob Miller — Thu, 18 May 2006 15:54:13 +0000

Point well made. There are Jewish groups and publications that are so permanently in panic mode that no one can take them seriously. People accuse others of blood libels at the drop of a hat. Bombastic, factually challenged headlines, articles, and ads scream at us. If someone set out to portray us as whiners and crybabies, he couldn’t do a better job than some of our “defenders”.

However, I’d like Jonathan Rosenblum to identify the types of situations that would require not only behind-the-scenes shtadlanus, but also one or more forms of public Jewish involvement.

By: david

david — Thu, 18 May 2006 15:21:06 +0000

Thank you, Mr. Rosenblum. It’s my understanding that Rabbi Zweibel in fact took a lot of heat for the article. One letter from a Rabbi called Rabbi Zweibel’s views ‘daas baal habayis’, and the other side ‘daas Torah’. Unfortunately, in that letter there was no proof that Rabbi Zweibel was not taking the advice of the Gedolim on the Moetzes of the Agudah. All we had was a deligitimization of the Agudah’s postion, as if ALL the Rabbonim did not agree with him.