Some Perspective on "Deadly Serious"
by Natan Slifkin, rationalistjudaism.comMay 16
Since thenotorious lecture by Rabbi Nissan Kaplan was first publicized on TorahMusings two days ago, it's spread like wildfire. Almost everyone is, appropriately, horrified at what Rav Kaplan reports in the name of Rav Steinman, along with his own elaboration. Almost everyone is weighing in with their feelings about it and their proposal about what should be done. I seem to be one of the few people who hasn't yet articulated a perspective - all I said when I passed on the recording wasHashem yerachem - so I'd like to share my own thoughts on two aspects of this.First of all, the attitude that Rav Kaplan expresses should be condemned for what it is, not for what it isn't. There's plenty to condemn. There's the basic repugnancy and anti-Torah attitude that charedim have a right to be supported by the rest of Israel and not share in the burden of military service. There's the shocking statement of Rav Steinman, as relayed by Rav Kaplan, that government ministers deserve to be killed. There's Rav Kaplan's frightening and clear message that it is absolutely forbidden to doubt this. There's the appalling pride that he displays with his five-year-old, who is creatively looking for ways in which government ministers can be killed.But Rav Steinman and Rav Kaplan didnot say that, practically speaking, people should actually go ahead and kill them. (This is apparently due to their simultaneously subscribing to the charedi approach of leadership paralysis.) Yes, what they said could lead to that (as described in my post "It's Not An Aberration"), and the lesson that Rav Kaplan is imparting to his students and children is loathsome and dangerous. But that is not the same as telling people to actually go ahead and kill them, and we must not claim that he said that. One commentator here went even further and described him as a "murderer." No, he's not! His words might - unintentionally -lead someone to murder, which is (one of the many reasons) why they must be condemned; but he is not a murderer. It's ironic that some people, in their zeal to condemn him for inflamed rhetoric, engage in inflamed rhetoric themselves.(UPDATE: Rav Kaplan hasissued a response in which he stresses that he considers it wrong and unthinkable for a person to actually go and kill anyone. While I don't think that this is remotely sufficient - it's also wrong to say that government ministers are Amalek and Haman and deserve to die, which he does not retract - he is not differing from what he said in the original lecture. It's true, of course he considers it wrong and unthinkable for a person to actually go and kill anyone. But there's still plenty of serious problems with what he said.)Second, I don't think that Rav Nissan Kaplan is the problem. I don't mean that there isn't a serious problem with what he said - of course there is, and it requires rectification. But I think that it would be a mistake to focus too much on him. He is simply a product of his environment. Rav Kaplan is the result of the incendiary language that comes from the uppermost echelons in charedi society. Whatever Rav Steinman actually meant when he said that the government is Amalek and that they should go to Gehinnom where they should suffer and be totally annihilated, the words themselves are wrong and dangerous.Furthermore, the attitude that Rav Kaplan expresses is quite common in charedi circles. Does anyone really think that he is the only one teaching students that Lapid and Bennett are Amalek, with all the repercussions of that? That attitude is rampant in charedi society. Even in the much more minor matter of the Beit Shemesh elections, those who supported Eli Cohen were routinely screamed at for being heretics,goyim, Amalek, etc. The problem is not Rav Kaplan; it's the widespread attitude that if someone is opposed to the charedi lifestyle, then they are utterly evil and thus there are no holds barred as to what one can say about them. That is what needs to change.
by Natan Slifkin, rationalistjudaism.comMay 16
Since thenotorious lecture by Rabbi Nissan Kaplan was first publicized on TorahMusings two days ago, it's spread like wildfire. Almost everyone is, appropriately, horrified at what Rav Kaplan reports in the name of Rav Steinman, along with his own elaboration. Almost everyone is weighing in with their feelings about it and their proposal about what should be done. I seem to be one of the few people who hasn't yet articulated a perspective - all I said when I passed on the recording wasHashem yerachem - so I'd like to share my own thoughts on two aspects of this.First of all, the attitude that Rav Kaplan expresses should be condemned for what it is, not for what it isn't. There's plenty to condemn. There's the basic repugnancy and anti-Torah attitude that charedim have a right to be supported by the rest of Israel and not share in the burden of military service. There's the shocking statement of Rav Steinman, as relayed by Rav Kaplan, that government ministers deserve to be killed. There's Rav Kaplan's frightening and clear message that it is absolutely forbidden to doubt this. There's the appalling pride that he displays with his five-year-old, who is creatively looking for ways in which government ministers can be killed.But Rav Steinman and Rav Kaplan didnot say that, practically speaking, people should actually go ahead and kill them. (This is apparently due to their simultaneously subscribing to the charedi approach of leadership paralysis.) Yes, what they said could lead to that (as described in my post "It's Not An Aberration"), and the lesson that Rav Kaplan is imparting to his students and children is loathsome and dangerous. But that is not the same as telling people to actually go ahead and kill them, and we must not claim that he said that. One commentator here went even further and described him as a "murderer." No, he's not! His words might - unintentionally -lead someone to murder, which is (one of the many reasons) why they must be condemned; but he is not a murderer. It's ironic that some people, in their zeal to condemn him for inflamed rhetoric, engage in inflamed rhetoric themselves.(UPDATE: Rav Kaplan hasissued a response in which he stresses that he considers it wrong and unthinkable for a person to actually go and kill anyone. While I don't think that this is remotely sufficient - it's also wrong to say that government ministers are Amalek and Haman and deserve to die, which he does not retract - he is not differing from what he said in the original lecture. It's true, of course he considers it wrong and unthinkable for a person to actually go and kill anyone. But there's still plenty of serious problems with what he said.)Second, I don't think that Rav Nissan Kaplan is the problem. I don't mean that there isn't a serious problem with what he said - of course there is, and it requires rectification. But I think that it would be a mistake to focus too much on him. He is simply a product of his environment. Rav Kaplan is the result of the incendiary language that comes from the uppermost echelons in charedi society. Whatever Rav Steinman actually meant when he said that the government is Amalek and that they should go to Gehinnom where they should suffer and be totally annihilated, the words themselves are wrong and dangerous.Furthermore, the attitude that Rav Kaplan expresses is quite common in charedi circles. Does anyone really think that he is the only one teaching students that Lapid and Bennett are Amalek, with all the repercussions of that? That attitude is rampant in charedi society. Even in the much more minor matter of the Beit Shemesh elections, those who supported Eli Cohen were routinely screamed at for being heretics,goyim, Amalek, etc. The problem is not Rav Kaplan; it's the widespread attitude that if someone is opposed to the charedi lifestyle, then they are utterly evil and thus there are no holds barred as to what one can say about them. That is what needs to change.
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