Rabbi Yakov Horowitz: ‘Hafganos’ begin at home

Time to stand up for true Torah Judaism

Editor’s note: Hafganah is a common Israeli term for protest; the plural is Hafganos. The headline refers to the violent protests that have dominated news from Israel in the past several weeks, in which anger over plans to open a Jerusalem municipal garage on Shabbos morphed into pitched battles between police and Orthodox Jews.

By Rabbi Yakov Horowitz

Issue of July 10, 2009 / 18 Tammuz 5769

Let’s start with a simple multiple-choice question: What is a greater desecration of G-d’s name?

A) Non-observant Jews who never had the benefit of a Torah education driving cars on Shabbos? B) Identifiably Orthodox people throwing rocks at police officers on Shabbos in full view of the media. I cannot for the life of me understand how any decent human being, let alone an ehrliche Yid (upstanding Jew) who was raised learning Torah and hearing stories of the Chofetz Chaim can answer anything but “B.” And I’ll take it a step further and say that anyone who chooses “A” did not learn the same Torah and the same mesorah that my generation was taught by Reb Moshe and Reb Yakov, Reb Ahron and Rav Hutner, Rav Pam and Rav Ruderman, of blessed memories. And if you feel that the images of a crowd of angry and violent people who dress like me and, maybe, you, hurling curses at police officers broadcast around the world is a colossal Chilul Hashem (desecration of G-d’s name) and a true physical danger to the safety and security of frum Jews worldwide, I pose the following question: What are we, as Torah Jews, obligated to protest first?

A) Non-observant Jews who never had the benefit of a Torah education driving cars on Shabbos?

B) Identifiably Orthodox people throwing rocks at police officers on Shabbos in full view of the media?

So let the next protest be called to peacefully and civilly proclaim, loudly and clearly, first to our own impressionable children, and then to all decent citizens of the world that this tiny minority of violent radicals does not represent us. You and I know with certainty that our gedolim shlit’a, our greatest Torah leaders, do not sanction nor support any expression of violence. But the public at large does not know that, and paints all of us — Charedim, Modern Orthodox, all observant Jews — with one broad brush. A week ago, tens of thousands gathered for a beautiful and moving Kabbolas Shabbos in Yerushalayim to protest Chilul Shabbos in a responsible and peaceful way, while some others irresponsibly rioted and burned garbage cans all week long. We, who know what true Yiddishkeit is all about, have a positive role to play. I feel with every fiber of my body that each and every decent Yid worldwide has a responsibility to write letters and emails to every media outlet informing them that these hooligans do not speak for us. For we have no right preaching to others until we have removed this horrible stain from our own communities. And it will remain that way until we change things. I respectfully ask readers to take a moment to e-mail letters containing the following text to the Jerusalem Post (letters@jpost.com) and Haaretz (feedback@haaretz.co.il), two Israeli newspapers with worldwide readership that are covering this story, and to pass this on to people on your email lists and ask them to do the same. It is my goal that each newspaper receive a minimum of 1,000 emails. Hopefully, then there will be a news story about how Torah Jews stood up for the values we hold so dear. “As a Torah Jew, I am deeply distressed by the desecration of Shabbos in our holy land — all the more so when it is government sanctioned. However, nothing can ever excuse the type of violence and wanton destruction of public property that has been reported recently such as the throwing of rocks at police officers and the burning of garbage dumpsters — all of which is diametrically opposed to the teachings of our Holy Torah. Lest our silence be misconstrued as passive acceptance of the violence, we condemn it in the strongest terms, as do the vast, overwhelming, majority of Torah Jews worldwide.” Rabbi Yakov Horowitz is the founder and dean of Yeshiva Darchei Noam of Monsey, and founder and director of Agudath Israel’s Project Y.E.S.