By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel
CHULA VISTA, California — Jewish legal tradition, better known as “Halachah,” teaches that silence is “tantamount to admission.” The moral implications ought to be clear enough for anyone to readily grasp. When somebody is attempting to do something wrong and illegal, one cannot dissociate oneself from the situation and act as if one has no moral obligations.
Jewish ethics takes a rather binary approach to moral dilemmas: You are either part of the solution, or else you are part of the problem. The Talmud develops this principle in a variety of different places. For example:
- From where do we know if a man sees his neighbor drowning, mauled by beasts, or attacked by robbers, he is required to save him? From the verse, “You shall not stand by idly when your neighbor’s life is at stake. I am the LORD” (Lev. 19:16).[1]
There is another Talmudic passage that makes a similar point:
- What is a foolish hasid like? — This refers to anyone who sees a woman is drowning in the river, and he says, “It is improper for me to look upon her and rescue her.”[2]
Why are these passages relevant?
Most of our readers are already well aware about the eight year old girl, Na’ama Margolis’s ordeal in Beth Shemesh, where she has been spat at, physically threatened, and insulted. The silence of many of the Haredi rabbis is alarming.
The Jewish philosopher Emmanuel Lévinas reminds us that the human face demands an ethical response. We cannot ignore the Voice of God that insists that we act ethically toward our brothers and sisters. “[T]he Other manifests itself by the absolute resistance of its defenseless eyes. . . . The Infinite is present in the face . . .”
Some leaders, like Rabbi Avarahan Yosef, the Chief Rabbi of Holon, and the Israeli Chief Rabbis Shlomo Amar and Yona Metzger have condemned the behavior in strong terms, “The Haredi public has no right to impose its opinion on the rest of the population . . . This isn’t the Haredi land,” the chief rabbi said in an interview to Kol Barama Radio. “We have no authority to impose our opinion on others. This is a public place.” While the Avarahan Yosef’s comments are certainly welcome, why isn’t his father, Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef—spiritual leader of Shas—not speaking out?
We want to know . . .
Some Haredi rabbis are acting commendably. However, my problem is not with the Israeli Chief Rabbinate. My problem is with the majority of Haredi leaders who choose to say nothing about this reprehensible behavior. One of the leading stalwarts of the Haredi community who commands the respect of the entire Haredi public is Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv; his voice has been surprisingly quiet. When it comes to the issue of Shabbat elevators or the kashrut of a cemetery and its possible “desecration,” Rabbi Elyashiv’s voice can always be heard.
This rabbi is not shy of cameras. You can count on it.
By the same token the Hassidic leaders of several of the sects also have said nothing about this travesty. We cannot turn a blind eye to the religious extremists in Beit Shemesh.
Beyond that, it seems that the American Haredi community doesn’t seem to have much to say either. Websites such as Yated.com and hamodia.com, or the Jewish Press would rather comment about North Korea’s Kim Jong-il’s death than the violence that is taking place in Beth Shemesh. How could this not be news?
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Rabbi Samuel is spiritual leader of Temple Beth Sholom in Chula Vista. He may be contacted at michael.samuel@sdjewishworld.com