Chareidi Political Influence in Jewish Life, and Why It Truly Matters: A Conversation with Rabbi David Stav (226)

Over the past two weeks, there has been increasing conversation in Israel among the Religious Zionist community about the continued refusal of many ultra-Orthodox Jews to consider enlisting in the Israeli army. Many of us have been discussing this issue for months or years; but it came to a head in the past couple of weeks largely because of the attempt by the Chareidi political parties in the Knesset to enshrine this exemption through legislation. The most recent attempt was the so-called Daycare Bill, which, if passed, would mean that the status of the father would not be taken into account when determining if a couple is eligible for state subsidies for daycare. This might seem like an obscure bill, but it is understood by almost everyone as a backdoor attempt to effectively legalize draft dodging by the Chareidi population by removing one of the financial disincentives to ignoring a draft notice. The question of Chareidi avoidance of the draft opens up a number of questions about Chareidi political influence on the wider Israeli public. This is obvious in numerous areas, including, most recently, the election of new chief rabbis of the State of Israel. Because the vote for the two chief rabbis is heavily influenced by political factors and by politicians, the Chareidi political parties have a huge influence on who is chief rabbi -  more than any other sector - even though, ironically, their communities are largely unaffected by the rabbinate's authority. There are many other areas where Chareidi political influence is affecting the rest of Israeli society, including kashrut, personal status, marriage and divorce, and conversion. As Rabbi David Stav, the founder of Tzohar, says, the problem is not Chareidi influence; the problem is Chareidim determining the law of the land, while not being bound or affected by the consequences of those laws. This is a serious issue for Jews no matter where they reside - and I was honored to speak to Rabbi Stav about the current situation, and what needs to change. PLUS: A personal editorial comment about the recent election of Donald Trump as the 47th president of the United States. Check out Orthodox Conundrum Commentary on Substack and get your free subscription by going to https://scottkahn.substack.com/. Please listen to and share this podcast, and let us know what you think on the Orthodox Conundrum Discussion Group on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/432020081498108). Thanks to all of our Patreon subscribers, who have access to bonus JCH podcasts, merch, and more - we appreciate your help, and hope you really enjoy the extras! Visit the JCH Patreon site at https://www.patreon.com/jewishcoffeehouse. Check out https://jewishcoffeehouse.com/ for the Orthodox Conundrum and other great podcasts, and remember to subscribe to them on your favorite podcast provider. Also visit https://www.jchpodcasts.com/ to learn all about creating your own podcast. Music: "Happy Rock" by bensound.com