Nov 26, 2013

MK Ruth Calderon is angry about bittul torah in the Knesset

yesterday MK Ruth Calderon used time from her speech to rail against the regular phenomenon of yeshiva bochurim sitting in the visitors chamber of the Knesset watching proceedings instead of being in yeshiva learning Torah..




just because they are dressed as yeshiva bochurim doesnt mean they are supposed to be in yeshiva. They might be visitors from abroad, maybe they aren't learning in yeshiva despite the way they dress, maybe they are in college after having served in the army and took some time off to see the Knesset proceedings, maybe they are in a civics course and went to see first hand, maybe they work for a living and took a few hours off for whatever reason... the possibilities are endless. It is almost "racist" to accuse yeshiva bochurim in this way just because a few haredi-dressed people are in the Knesset visitors chamber.

At the same time, the Rambam said, קבל אמת ממי שאמרה, accept the truth from whoever says it - even if the source is problematic and has something else in mind, yeshiva bochurim should realize they are noticed and must be careful and use their time properly, make a kiddush hashem and don't do things that can be viewed in a negative light. and if they were not supposed to be there but were playing hooky from yeshiva, they should realize the entire community of yeshiva bochurim get slapped because of them.

Calderon's attack upset many and MKs argued with her, even from Meretz. As someone commented on Facebook, maybe Calderon would have been better off going up to the visitors chamber and offering to learn some Torah with them...


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4 comments:

  1. You make some good points.

    But Calderon learning with these boys?

    חו"ח! לא עלינו!

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  2. What a whacko. Her chareidi hatred really shines through in this. If there weren't chareidim in the bleachers she would be screaming that she can't stand that the charedim don't take part in israeli society...

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  3. I've learnt that we really are all tools at any given time to pass messages to other when you are least expecting it. i was once very chewed out for not doing something quite insignificant, but later realized after some cheshbon nefesh that it was a message I had to hear about something else entirely. This week, a fellow driver at a red light thought I was too far away from the car in front of me and sincerely told me to move up. Now who really cares that I had 1.5 metres of space instead if the .5 metres? Hashem telling me to move up on something (haven't figured this one out yet)
    Calderon is also used as a tool here unwillingly. Was the message meant for the bochrim in the bleachers, or was this really supposed to be widely publicized on youtube for someone else to notice and take heart?

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