Modern Orthodox or Chareidi: Are those the only choices?
Modern Orthodox or Chareidi: Are those the only choices? Yehuda L. Oppenheimer Introduction [1] Summer 2012. Once again, Israel is in convulsions over the Chareidim. Due to maximalist positions staked out by both sides, no compromise is in sight. The secularists will accept nothing less than a total draft of all Chareidim. The Chareidim are determined to fight any change in the status quo [2] . And many of us – who want the Chareidim to contribute their fair share to the national burden, while simultaneously honoring the mission and heroism of those who devote their lives to Torah study and teaching – we strain our ears for that nuanced voice from the Chareidi leadership that will bring unity and sanity to this crisis . . . and are once again disappointed. The first draft of this article was written in December 2011, after grown men – in supposed religious zeal – spat at and taunted 8 yr. old schoolgirls who were not...