The Chief Rabbinate; A Blessing or a Curse? part 9

Before we can talk about the after-effects of the debacles of the Rabbinate of the '70s., we must address the profound changes in Israel at that time. The Six Day War of 1967 was followed by a remarkable euphoria; no one had expected Israel to survive. But she had, and new territory was added, which had been the main centers of Jewish life in ancient Israel. Many saw this as a great miracle. It was later revealed that there was a huge abyss of mistrust between the government and the army on the eve of the war. Moshe Dayyan, the hero of the 1956 Sinai Campaign, was called out of retirement. But why? It was reported that Lt. General Yitzchak Rabin felt that PM Levi Eshkol was mishandling everything. He had a breakdown, and reportedly spent the first days of the war in a drunken stupor. (This was later used by his political opponents in campaign ads; Rabin's image with a liquor bottle and glass shown over his head.) The Jerusalem Municipality had ordered the preparation of 10,000 graves for the expected civilian casualties.The PM's address to the nation at the beginning of the war was recited in a stammering, fearful voice. There had been fear that the Soviet Union would, at some point, intervene on the Arab side. For a realist, things looked bleak. Six days later, an amazing victory, which no one had expected, was in their hands. Many young, hitherto secular Israelis, as well as young Jews around the world, had the feeling that Divine intervention had been seen, and the coming of Mashiach was imminent.This was the beginning of the "Teshuvah (Repentance) Movement" which saw a massive return to religion. The secularists were furious. "The victory was a victory of the secular State!". Many snickered at that, considering the relative helplessness of the State at that juncture. But, at the same time, the secular Left was uncomfortable with holding on to the newly conquered territories, as the occupation of another people was contrary to everything they believed in. They were also alarmed by the growing numbers of the religious minority.They saw Democracy, as they envisioned it, under threat. In the early '70s, the issue of "who is a Jew?" became, as we have seen, a major divisive factor in Israeli society. Secular Israelis wanted a secular definition, with no reference to religion. The religious, of course, objected strongly. PM Golda Meir, who took over after the death of Levi Eshkol, imposed a compromise that pleased few. She famously said "Judaism is above Zionism and above the State". This infuriated the secular. But she went on to advocate, and gain passage, for the formula "A Jew is one born of a Jewish mother, or one who has converted". She deliberately did NOT say "converted according to halachah". This opened the way for Conservative and Reform conversions to be recognized for purposes of immigration, but not for marriage, as this was still under the jurisdiction of the Rabbinate. In fact, non-Orthodox conversion as validation for immigration was to wait thirty years for full implementation in practice. Then came October, 1973. A "surprise" attack (which should have been no surprise, as Egyptian and Syrian troops were amassed at the border for weeks), was launched against Israel on the morning of the solemn day of Yom Kippur. Most of the soldiers at the front were yeshiva students with little training, who had volunteered to relieve soldiers for the holy day. Some 1,000 were killed in the first wave of attack. All in all, 2,688 Israelis died in that war, which lasted nineteen days. Considering the population of Israel at the time was 3,000,000, that is a huge percentage of the population. In the post mortum of the war, it was seen that the coming of the war should have been obvious, but there had been a "contzeptzia" (working concept) in the government and military that the Arabs would not risk another war with Israel. A controversial side note is that Golda Meir was informed a few hours before the attack that one was imminent, but decided to absorb the blow, rather than risk angering Nixon and Kissinger. This essentially ended her political career. She even contemplated suicide.Although many regard her with great admiration, others (including yours truly) regard her as one of the greatest failures in Jewish history. The mood of the country changed. Faith in the government and the military plummeted. The traditional Israeli confidence (overconfidence?) was dead. The Zionism of the '50's and '60's was no more. Israelis no longer sought land or power. Most wanted peace at any price. There was only one exception to this rule. The religious Zionist community saw the near defeat as an opportunity to settle the Land of Israel in a new way. In Judea, Samaria, Gaza, and the Golan, settlement must take place; not based on the ideals of Marx, but on the Torah, and on Zionism as had been envisioned by Rav Kook. The Chief Rabbinate became, at this stage, more of an observer than a facilitator. After Golda Meir was removed from office, Yitzchak Rabin became the PM. He acceded to the requests of the National Religious groups to form settlements in the "territories", even giving generous government grants and incentives. He suffered a vote of no confidence in 1977, as the result of two scandals. Menachem Begin, the leader of Israel's Right, was elected PM, ending a twenty-nine year Socialist rule. Some of the religiously right parties now entered the governing coalition, something they felt they could not do under the anti-Torah policies of previous governments. (Begin personally was fairly observant). But now, there was more than one kind of religious Jew in Israel officialdom. The Chief Rabbinate, which had always represented the National Religious party, became much less influential. It is perhaps ironic that any move towards inclusivity and unity, tended to have the opposite effect That is one of the tragedies of Jewish history. It remains a problem. Where the chief Rabbinate went next, will be the topic of my next post.