Vote yes, donate, no! The ultra-Orthodox parties have lost their way

By Nechama Tzivin

Israel’s Supreme Court ruling which determined that the Reform and Conservative movements’ conversion process would be recognized, not only was it a loss and enormous damage to the Jewish cause in the State of Israel, it also emphasized the status and poor condition of the religious and ultra-Orthodox parties in the Knesset. These parties present themselves to the voters as faithful representatives of the Torah of Israel.

This time, the court was not guilty of, in my opinion, over-intervening (regardless of the fact that it should not rule in purely halachic matters). After all, the bottom line, in this case, is that it did not force its opinion on the legislature and did not assume powers for itself.

Anyone who has followed the unfolding of the affair knows that for a decade and a half, the court has begged the Knesset to settle the issue in legislation or compromise and even warned that it would be placed in a situation of no alternative. It did not happen. Therefore, the Supreme Court acted accordingly.

This issue wasn’t addressed because it isn’t important enough for the ultra-Orthodox parties. It was important enough for them to be interviewed on the day of the ruling on every TV program or news website and to express the deep shock at the harm caused to the people of Israel and to threaten the “genealogies” (which are probably essential to prevent a common situation in our midst where a Yeshiva student from the Ponivege Yeshiva would marry a soldier who converted to Judaism in the army).

It wasn’t important enough for them to make this a matter of principle that is fought for by all coalition and electoral means, one that can cause the overthrow of a government. That you pull out all the stops for. A cause that calls for demonstrations in places like Highway 1 or the String Bridge.

While it is true that there is no guaranteed majority on this issue, not in this Knesset, and probably not in the future, every great journey begins with a small step.

Where is the vision? Where is the battle? Where did the outcry go? Where is the threat of non-political cooperation if the issue is not promoted, which by all accounts is the most fundamental in terms of preserving the character of the state as a Jewish state? Nada. Nothing.

This phenomenon faithfully represents the tension that exists between narrow vision and lateral vision in the dual roles that the sectoral parties take on especially the religious and ultra-Orthodox ones. They also claim to represent the direct interests of their electorate and also to represent the Jewish, Halacha and religious interests, to speak on its behalf and to ensure the formation of a Jewish state.

Sometimes it seems very easy to arrange a budget for a Ulpana or register an ultra-Orthodox boarding school as eligible for a budget. But it is difficult and not that rewarding to wage an ideological struggle.

For many years, this tension existed and the ultra-Orthodox and religious parties somehow respected it. Until it turns out that as the needs of the community increased, the interest of its representatives in the idea, diminished. In the true mission. In the ideological engine without which, the right to exist would be lost.

Try to remember the achievements of these parties – no significant religious legislation, no war over kosher standards (specifically Bagatz Petition 3336/04, raised the standards of kosher, as opposed to the dragging of the feet by the Ministry of Religious Affairs and the Chief Rabbinate), on who is a Jew, on character and nature questions of Israel in its entirety. This is a bitter disappointment.

As an ultra-Orthodox person I will continue to vote for a G-d-fearing party but my donations, which I have made in the past – I will refrain from them with great pain. A religious party must first represent Judaism and the Torah of Israel and only afterward, those who voted for it.

• The author is an attorney from Kfar Chabad and is active in the Movement for Fair Government.