This past Shabbos, I was in Flatbush by my son Simcha. We davened in a local shul, well established in the community and headed by a rav who is a fine talmid chacham. Following davening, a gentleman whom I never met before came over to me and said, “Well, Rabbi Schonfeld, did you experience anything in shul that you can write about in your column?”
Truthfully, there was nothing remarkable in the davening, which was an expedient neitz, sunrise minyan, so I can’t write anything about that experience. I was more intrigued by the fact that this fellow from Flatbush was a follower of the Queens Jewish Link and my column. He said he is either able to pick up a paper in Flatbush or read online. It was interesting to see how much beyond Queens the QJL is read.
If you followed the stunning exchange between President Trump, Vice President Vance, and Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, the main issue that seemed to irk Trump and Vance was the lack of gratitude displayed by Mr. Zelenskyy toward the United States for all its support in the past. Gratitude, or as we know it, hakaras ha’tov, is key to any relationship. The Chazal, our Sages, are replete with the importance of hakaras ha’tov, and the lack of it, starting at Creation with Adam’s lack of appreciation for Chavah.
Last week, Baltimore was graced by the presence of a rosh ha’yeshivah of great stature from Israel. He spoke at several different venues, one of which was a Q&A-type meeting where questions about any issue were presented to him. The questions ranged from the need to make aliyah to Eretz Yisrael considering the raging anti-Semitism in the world (anti-Semitism should not be the motivating factor) to how do we explain to those asking why yeshivah boys do not serve in the army (we need to convince people of the importance of learning Torah with total sincerity).
The last question was mine. I asked the rosh ha’yeshivah, assuming that there are two legitimate sides to the debate, why is it that too many leaders in the chareidi world take to name-calling? Why the need to say that joining the IDF is tantamount to shmad, religious persecution? Why the need to say that the IDF feeds into the notion that it is “my strength and might of my hand that made me all this wealth” (D’varim 8:17)? Why can’t yeshivah boys who are learning Torah as the Jewish soldiers sacrifice their lives, express a minimum of hakaras ha’tov to these soldiers? Why the animus toward them?
If there would be that kind of attitude coming from the chareidi world, I am sure much of the anger would calm down, and reason might prevail. Not to mention the immense chilul Hashem that often results from the debate.
The rosh ha’yeshivah looked at me with sealed lips and sheepishly shrugged his shoulders. It is not clear if he could not or dared not say anything, but on that note, the meeting ended.
I told the rav sitting next to me that it looks like I received my answer. And that is sad.
Rabbi Yoel Schonfeld is the Rabbi Emeritus of the Young Israel of Kew Gardens Hills, President of the Coalition for Jewish Values, former President of the Vaad Harabonim of Queens, and the Rabbinic Consultant for the Queens Jewish Link.
