The debate surrounding the value of Gilad Shalit in relation to how many terrorists should be released to obtain Shalit's freedom has until now been limited to debating value. Should he be released at any cost? is this many terrorists worth his life or is it too many? etc. The need, or should I say our obligation, to try to release him, at some sort of acceptable value, was a given..
Just when you thought you have heard it all from the Neturei Karta people, they find a way to shock us all, time and time again.
Now they have put out a statement saying that Gilad Shalit should not be released at all. They say he is not religious, he eats non-kosher food, doesn't keep shabbos, doesn't put on tefillin, etc. and does not fall into the category of "your brethren" and therefore there is no halachic obligation at all to redeem him. The halacha of pidyon shvuyim, they say, does not apply to Shalit because he is not religious.
So, while they are willing to meet with terrorists and befriend them, hug and kiss them in public, while they are willing to call for Israel to release Hamas prisoners and give away land and everything else they say, they also prefer to let another Jew sit in captivity - not even because of a debatable value, but forever as we have no need to redeem him.
Uch.
----
UPDATE: I saw that even the Neturei Karta is now denying this statement because of all the heat they have been getting because of it. Someone in the Neturei Karta is saying that the statement put out on the email list saying Shalit is not religious and therefore not redeemable was unauthorized.
the ironic thing is that most of klal yisrael (including haredim) would probably be more willing to count him for a minyan than any of these whackos.
ReplyDeleteA Jew shouldn't be redeemed because he sins? In the eyes of Neturei Karta, no Jew alive today (except them, of course) can meet their exacting standards of perfection. And because Israel can't, that is why the Jewish State must be destroyed. Notice they don't apply their lofty moral standards to the enemy. They can hate and kill Jews and NK will support them, no questions asked, to the hilt. The irony of backing vicious anti-Semites and Israel-haters gets lost on the NK minim.
ReplyDeleteAsk me whether I'm surprised, Rafi...
ReplyDeleteCurrent trends seem to suggest that the future of Israel will be that of a binational state. While this is not something most Israelis want, even many conservative Israelis have concluded it may be inevitable.
ReplyDeletehttp://watching-history.blogspot.com/2009/10/israel.html
NK: Not Jewish, Not Human. May G-d punish them severely for their many sins.
ReplyDeleteCurrent trends seem to suggest that the future of Israel will be that of a binational state.
ReplyDeleteGreat then at that point we should require real identity docs for everyone, helping encourage the Neturei Karta to hang out on the side they're most comfortable...
reb chaim held up davening before yom kippur for a bundist who was mechallel shabbos befarhesya, and reb chaim said the kehilla is obligated to pay for pidyon shvuyin even though they didnt want and he held up kol nidrei for it.
ReplyDeleteOnce again, the NK shows exactly who "your brethren" are: NOT THEM!
ReplyDeleteSeems to me they are the odd ones out on this deal, not the remainder of Yahadut.
Also, I'm not sure which sickens me more: the original statement, or the follow-up which says the original statement was "not authorized".
Not "absolutely incorrect", "without basis in halachah", or "inhumane" - just "not authorized". Which just goes to show that they meant every word of the original statement as worded, they just got caught with their pants down when the blowback hit them.
What a waste of Hashem's works...