The true scandal of the WZO affair and Lakewood leadership

https://substack.com/@daastorah

The reason people are so upset about Eretz Hakodesh and the WZO affair is this:

Nobody cares that rabbanim paskened one way or the other. I can understand both sides. It’s a halacha shayla, make the psak, and finished. 

What bothers people is the absolute amount of energy and time and yes, care put into an entirely pointless issue.

There’s a famous pyramid based on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. It’s a psychological theory that one must address the base issues in a person’s life such as food water and warmth, before moving on to higher levels in the pyramid of friends, prestige, and creative activities.

However, there is also a lesser-known pyramid based on Ash’s hierarchy of rabbinic leadership priorities, which is found below

Now, let’s look where WZO is on this pyramid. You see it? No? That’s right - the WZO is nowhere freaking on there! That’s because it does not matter. Not a bit! The fact the local Lakewood ‘leadership’ spent hours and hours on it and stopped seder for this waste of time tells us one of two things:

1. They believe that one of the prerequisites of being a a gadol is screaming about the tziyonim all day. After all, that is what they learned in Brisk. They had no choice - its a mitzvah. This is the absolute best case scenario, and it’s sad they are delusional that this is a mitzvah, but at least from this perspective, it is justifiable.

However, the more likely scenario, unfortunately, is the second one::

2. 2: They genuinely believe that the stopping the WZO is a pressing issue that is worth stopping seder for over other issues. The question is why? Are they so out of touch?

A few options:

• They think the WZO is still a major threat to yiddishkeit, akin to the Reform and Conservative movements. Thus we need mass protests. Unfortunately, This is of course insanely delusional and disconnected from reality - tens of thousands of yidden voted last time around for Eretz Hakodesh, and there is no evidence a single one of them became a kofer or apikores because of it. 

• 
  

• That’s not to count the thousands of yidden that have historically voted for the other frum parties in the past. (Of course, one can hold it’s assur gamur - it’s that it is currently in today's age a threat to frum yiddishkeit is what is delusional. People miss krias shema all the time and don’t get even a peep of protests.)

• 
  

• Some may even believe that this is a secret shmad operation designed by the sitra achra, erev rav, and George Soros in order to get temimim bnei torah to sign to avoda zara.1 Unfortunately, this option does not surprise me, given that at least one of the Roshei Yeshiva spearheading the fight against the WZO actually believed in Qanon at one point and that George Floyd was still alive and being hidden by the government to inspire protests.2

• 
  

• One may suggest these Roshei Yeshiva think that the issues of the WZO are what’s left to tackle, and that we’ve accomplished everything else. This is just a case of Roshei Yeshiva having Luxury beliefs. This is the option that inspires the most anger. Why are our rabbanim living in a bubble? But personally, while I am extremely cynical about leadership, I do think most Roshei Yeshiva are aware of people suffering. (Though they definitely do have other Luxury beliefs that wouldn’t survive five minutes in the real world)

• 
  

• It’s also possible that they did not realize that by putting effort into the WZO protests, it makes people think they don’t care about other issues. Unfortunately, that in of itself a kind of poor leadership, as a rav needs to realize these things
  and it still doesn’t explain why they chose to protest in the first place.

Rather here is what I think is actually happening: 

These people, consciously or unconsciously, aren’t leaders of klal yisrael at all, even if they think they are. Rather, they think that those struggling have nothing to do with them personally, although they absolutely do care very much. 

What’s happening is that these rabbonim are Roshei Yeshiva. That means they are running a Yeshiva, which is a small bubble and universe in of itself. The Rosh yeshiva’s main job is to run that yeshiva for the yeshiva as an institution’s benefit. 

For example, no matter how much he wishes to, he cannot accept every talmud. He must ensure the yeshiva’s reputation, which would fall apart if he did that. He may very much care for the talmud he rejected, but the talmud who cannot get in is not the Rosh Yeshiva’s problem. Rather, he has to ensure the yeshiva endures as a yeshiva.

While this may be good policy for running a yeshiva, this usually explicitly contradicts what is best for klal yisroel or even the wider community as a whole.

For example, it might well be true that if Lakewood had secular studies in mesivtos, a cultural change to better financial education, and encouragement of goals outside learning, it would be a far better place to live and people would be happier here. However, if R Malkiel or a different Rosh Yeshiva would advocate for such a change publicly, it would destroy or at least affect the reputation of BMG, which he is intimately tied to. Therefore, such changes must only be done behind the scenes, to the wider Lakewood kehilla’s detriment. This doesn’t make R Malkiel and co bad people, just not leaders of Lakewood and certainly not Klal Yisrael, just the leaders of BMG.3

Contrast that to someone like R Yaakov Bender, who leads Darchei and Far Rockaway. He might have no such issue because Darchei is a community school, and the community and the school has a reciprocal relationship, and thus he is leading a community which is on the same page as the institution.4 And so when Rabbi Bender leads, he is hopefully leading with Far Rockaway in mind and not just the school.

This brings us to the WZO. What ends up happening is that certain Roshei Yeshiva decide it’s important for his institution’s reputation to protest Zionism for whatever reason. Maybe because he wants to show solidarity with Eitz, maybe because he believes it makes the yeshiva more yeshivish or for any other personal reason. He thus shuts down seder for this, because he has determined what is best for his institution - even if he personally thinks its for klal yisrael, its still his institution in front of his mind.

 However, when it comes to other community needs, while the Roshei Yeshiva certainly care about them, they are not directly tied to his institution, he will not address them. Let someone else do it. (Good thing R Uri Deutch came around to fix the shidduch system), He certainly will not address those issues that would actively undermine his institution, because he is fundamentally a Rosh Yeshiva at his core, even if he doesn't consciously acknowledge it.

And what happens is that people who look to these Roshei Yeshiva as community or klal yisrael leaders - which they are not - end up disappointed, angry, and bitter, because their needs are not being addressed.

What’s the solution: 

It is obvious: Roshei Yeshiva should be recognized for what they are: Heads of yeshiva, as a position, is often earned via nepotism5, and not because they are qualified leaders, even if the person is certainly a talmud chacham.6 They should not be considered leaders of klal yisrael unless they explicitly understand this contradiction and consciously overcome it. And since they are not leaders of Klal Yisrael, you don’t have to follow them,since they are not caring about WZO and other issues as part of their leadership of klal yisroel but rather of their institution (even if they do not realize it). Because even if they are not out of touch with their institution, they are out of touch from you.

1

Maybe they’d even get vaccinated next, chas veshalom.

2

I wish I was joking about this.

3

An even more obvious example is the “freezer”.

4

Please don’t tell me that Lakewood is a Yeshiva Town, so its analogous. The differences are obvious. BMG is not tied to the community in any way that the community affects BMG. It’s leaders are not beholden to the community, but rather the reverse. And the yeshiva is prioritized over the community. Hence, BMG’s leadership is just for itself.

5

Isn’t it an odd coincidence that the five most qualified people to “lead” Lakewood are also sons and sons in law of R Shneur Kotler?

6

Obviously, a community kollel or yeshiva where the community picks the Rosh yeshiva is similar to a kehilla model and would be different.