My Story 39

Now, I shall digress a bit from the saga of the Israeli political process, and get personal. In 1991, I was asked by Binyamin Kahane (HY'D), the son of slain Rabbi Meir Kahane (HY"D) (himself slain together with his wife, Talya, in December, 2000 while driving their kids to school) if I would want to teach at his Yeshiva at Kfar Tappuah in the Shomron. Kfar Tappuah was, and is, a place of strong opinions, and strong disagreements. It was founded by a group of Yemenites from the community of Bareket. They are called Habanim. In Yemen, they had been a fierce tribe, employed by the kings to guard the border. They were the only Jews allowed to bear arms. There were in Tappuah some other Yemenites, besides some North Africans, and an influx in the late '80s of Kahanists, mostly Ashkenazim. There were 40 families, with two synagogues. Last I heard, there were 60 families with 4 synagogues. In Israel, a rabbi is not the rabbi of a synagogue, but the rabbi of a community. After a few months of teaching at the Yeshiva, I was asked if I would like to become rabbi of Tappuah. I agreed. I began coming every Shabbat, alternating between the entire family making the half-hour trip from Beit El, and coming alone with one of our older kids. Normally, a candidate would need to be approved by the regional rabbi, but there was none. A committee (actually, an inquisitory court) of three rabbis was set up. There was considerable opposition to my candidacy. Firstly, I had been brought in by the Kahanists, to whom the Kookian concept of "baseless love" did not extend. Also, I didn't share their view of the sanctity of government, or the ultimate authority of the Chief Rabbinate. I was asked "do you accept every ruling of the Chief Rabbinate?" "Usually" was my reply. "Why usually?" "Well, if it's based on halachah, yes. If it's political, no". "What?!?! You think rabbis are influenced by politics? That is a denial of the Oral Torah." Their report of the meeting only said I was not qualified, as I had "denied the Oral Torah before them". A year later, when the National Religious Party lost the Chief Rabbinate, one of my inquisitors, Eliezer Melamed, told me that they do not accept the new Chief Rabbis. I asked him if this did not constitute a denial of the Oral Torah. "No, these rabbis do not represent the people, so they are not the Chief Rabbis" (I.e, not from his party). He saw the look in my eyes. He said "I guess I've just confirmed your impression that we are complete hypocrites". I heartily agreed. Of course, he had no answer. Appeals by many rabbis and community leaders were to no avail. Finally, a neighbor, Rabbi Eli Ben Dahan, who had formerly been personal secretary to Rabbi Mordecai Eliahu, the outgoing Chief Rabbi (Rabbi Ben Dahan is now a powerful government official), brought my story of woe to Rabbi Eliahu. I was called in for a meeting. After exchanging pleasantries, he said to me "all that we say from the Chief Rabbi's office is in accordance with halachah. But not all that is in accordance with the halachah can we say. What you said was right". He instructed the local rabbis to approve me, after two years of defamation and hell. An election was held at Tappuah, in which I received over 70% of the vote. Then, after the Rabin assassination, a police car drove up to my home in Beit El. This was unusual, as all the settlements were under martial law, not civil law. I wasn't home at the time, but Sima received, on my behalf, a summons to appear before the Serious Crimes Commission of the Israeli police in Petach Tikvah. The only time in my life that I had ever had a run-in with the police, was in 1973, for making an illegal left turn from the middle lane in Cincinnati. I was, to say the least, terrified. Several of my colleagues were under arrest at the time, and one was actually in prison on a three-year sentence for a halachic article he wrote, which could be interpreted as critical of government policy. As I have previously mentioned, Israel has a draconian law called "Administrative Detention", meaning one could be sent to prison without trial, if a high government or military official thinks he should. Like a real Israeli, I called my party; Shas. I was told to let my wife know what time the interrogation began, and what time it was over. If she didn't hear from me in three hours, the streets of Petach Tikvah would be blocked with demonstrators, and a coalition crisis would ensue. I entered the police compound with a feeling that I was entering Hell. I was pleasantly surprised by the intelligence and politeness of my interrogator. I began with informing him of the Shas threat, which seemed to surprise and trouble him. He asked me my political views, and got the long version, with emphasis on French philosopher Alexis-Charles-Henri Clérel de Tocqueville's work "The Tyranny of the Majority". He was impressed, and he told me so. Some comic relief came in when at one point, I quoted Woody Allen. He was startled "how do you know Woody Allen?" (Israeli rabbis rarely know anything of secular culture. One was even surprised when I informed him that the world was round. Honestly.) "I know him from his books and movies". The interrogator looked shocked. I said "OK, you've got me. if you want to end my career, you have the goods". He smiled broadly and said "you can relax". Then, he read what they had on me; statements I had made over the years about the lack of ethics in Israeli politics, my feeling that Oslo was not legitimate, as it contradicted assurances that had been made to the public by Rabin, and, worst of all, that it would not bring peace, but further bloodshed. The last, under Israeli law, constitutes "Incitement to murder" (!!!!). I knew to whom and where I had made these statements; to my "friends" and neighbors. I now knew that I could trust virtually no one. My suspicions were confirmed that I was living in a society not very different from Soviet Russia. After two and a quarter hours of questioning, he said "look. I know where you're coming from. I studied in the States. You think Democracy means that you can say whatever you want. Here, it means free elections, nothing more. UNDERSTAND? With that, I was released. Shortly after, a government agent insisted that I give him reports about what the people in Tappuah were saying, including names. I said "you want me to inform against my congregants?!?!". "You don't work for them, you work for us". He was right. All official rabbis in Israel are State employees. Rather than inform, I resigned. But this experience left me to wonder about the integrity of all those who don't resign.All the "Eliezer Melameds". Things did not return to normal, however. Our three oldest kids were repeatedly called out of class by the police and questioned. Our phone was tapped. (Very amateurishly. We could hear the voices). Once, I told the person listening and talking at the same time to please talk lower, as she was disturbing me. "You're not supposed to be able to hear us!" This was six years before we finally threw in the towel and returned to the States. The phone tapping, the interrogation and harassment of my kids, did not stop; neither under Netanyahu, nor Barak, nor Sharon. My hopes, dreams, my career, my vision of being "home", were over at that point. I would soon be heading back to America; broken, discouraged, scared, and too old to get my career back on track.
1. O L-rd, G-d of vengeance,
O G-d of vengeance, appear!
2 Arise, O Judge of the earth.
Give arrogant people what they deserve.
3 How long, O L-rd, will wicked people triumph?
How long? (Psalm 94:1-3)