Elizur Yuval - The war within : Israels ultra-orthodox threat to democracy and the nation

L ATE ONE WINTRY EVENING THE TELEPHONE RANG ON MY desk in Jerusalem. A mans voice at the other end of the line spoke softly in Hebrew without any distinguishing accent. He sounded like a man in the prime of life. I want you to help me, he pleaded, almost without emotion. He identified himself as a member of a religious seminary and did not wait for a reply.

I have a wife and five children. All day I study Talmud. I get a living allowance of eleven hundred shekels [about $300] a month as well as a stipend to cover my tuition. I also receive government welfare payments for the children and some help from friends abroad. In the mornings, my wife helps in a dress shop. Altogether we have about thirty-five hundred shekels [about $900] a month to live on. We have no apartment of our own, and our parents are willing to help us buy one, but who can afford to buy an apartment these days?

No doubt he had heard of, or perhaps had actually read, the earlier version of this book that was published in Hebrew in 2009, so it only seemed right to cut into his sadly familiar tale.

Why do you stay in the yeshiva? Why dont you look for a job?

What job? he angrily replied. What can I do? In Talmud Torah [primary school] I was never taught mathematics, English, or even Hebrew grammar. I wanted to become an accountant, but I am not qualified

Why dont you take evening courses? I countered.

The emotion that was lacking before now shone through. How can I? In the evenings I have to help my wife and children at home. If I take courses, everyone in the yeshiva will criticize me. My rabbi says one must study only holy subjects. I am not a hero.

So what do you want me to do? I was about to end the conversation.

You can help. You are a writer. Dont let this madness continue. This country needs thousands of workers. Dont let the politicians ruin our lives.

But what good will our writing do? I argued. The vote of your representatives in the Knesset is needed to uphold the government coalition. That is more important to them than your happiness.

So why dont they select only the best and the brightest to maintain and propagate the study of Jewish wisdom, as they did in Europe before the Holocaust? Do they really need ninety thousand yeshiva students to keep Jewish learning going? They have far fewer scientists in the Weitzman Institute and research persons in our high-tech industry and look at our achievements!

I was slow in replying, and he continued, raising his voice: Ill tell you why. They are afraid that I and thousands like me will serve in the army, associate with other Israelis, find good jobs, and gradually leave their flock. They are not concerned about my soul. They are worried about their jobs.

But what will my writing do? I tried to appeal to his logic, but he became even more emotional: You already did very much! Why do you think the Supreme Court tore up the Tal Law that gave the haredim an excuse not to serve in the army? The leaders of the religious parties miscalculated. They believed the Israeli public will swallow everything, including the separation of women on public buses.

He continued: Our leadership was given another blow by the government that has recently decided to raise the minimum legal age of marriage from seventeen to eighteen. Israeli society does not want our children to get married before they have a mind of their own and immediately have millions of children whom they cannot support and become more dependent on the budgets the leaders can obtain for them.

And then, just as I thought the conversation had come to an end, he added: We are in for a very interesting period. A period of a war within. Until recently the secular forces made all the mistakes. Recently my people have begun making mistakes. That is good. That will save Israel.

Y UVAL E LIZUR