Apr 23, 2026
be respectful even when disagreeing
A journalist made waves yesterday when she posted online a video of two young Haredi men (18 years old) who knocked on the door of her home and asked for tzedaka for hachnasat kalla. She asked them about it being erev Yom Haatzmaut and why they are not serving in the army after they confirmed they are 18 years old, and they left empty handed...
the video got passed around and went somewhat viral and it created quite a stir with different personalities such as Aryeh Deri and Aryeh Erlich, among others, getting involved, donating money and spekaing out against what happened and calling on people to donate..
Inbar Twizer, the journalist who posted the video, later defended herslef, to the onslaught of attacks against because of her video, saying that her husnad had just returned from funerals of six of his friends in miluim who had fallen in battle in Lebanon, and all of them were religious, and these 18 year olds knocked on the door and we had a pleasant conversation in which we asked them why they have not inducted into the army. If anyone thinks we shamed them, we can agree about one thing - that not inducting into the army at this time - that is definitely something to be ashamed of.
Each and every person has the right to decide to whom to give charity. Nobody is obligated to give to whoever knocks at the door, and if you dont approve of the lifestyle of someone asking for tzedaka, feel free to not donate.
That being said, while you can choose to donate tzedaka or not donate tzedaka to any given person r organization, there is no need to treat people disrespectfully. There is a time and a place for those discussions. Go arrange a meeting between representatives of the various communities and aks the questions and have your discussions. Set up one on one meetings with average young and old haredim and ask your questions about why they do this or that. You should not treat people disrespectfully. Two young men coming to the door for one purpose do not need to be harassed like that and then shamed online. She could have asked them if they serve in the army and upon hearing no she could have chosen to not donate and send them on their way without causing a big stir.
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I don't agree. I have 4 kids (3 sons and a son-in-law) in and out of active Miluim. They have served in Gaza and Lebanon. In Miluim, they leave behind wives and a total of 18 kids (with a couple on the way). Since October 7th I don't think there have been more than 1-2 months in which none of them were in Miluim. So I'm not sleeping well for 3 years because my kids are protecting these "young hareidi men" (and all of us). If they knocked on my door asking for money, the conversation would not be very respectful on my part. The phrase that comes to mind is הֲרָצַחְתָּ וְגַם יָרָשְׁתָּ
ReplyDeleteI have 5 kids in the army right now. 1 in keva, 2 in basic training, and 2 in miluim. fighting and shaming them is not going to get them to sign up to serve in the IDF
Deletewhat exactly was the shaming?
ReplyDeletekt
The only issue I have with the journalist's behavior is the fact that she did not blur their faces before posting. Else, this was not "aggressive", "humiliating", or any of the other terms being thrown about.
ReplyDeleteI also have a daughter in Sadir (though non-combat) so we are pretty even ;-)
ReplyDeleteIt's a shame that the husband laughed at the end of the video, I think it weakened the presentation, and the issue is not funny... Nevertheless, I would also add that their exemption should be for full time Torah learning (if they are currently post-high school), and as such going around Shnorring may be inconsistent with the terms of their exemption, AND is extremely inappropriate on Yom Hazikaron. Calling them out may give the Hareidi world another glimpse as to how they are viewed by the general secular and DL populations.