In a Twitter post on the issue of state funding of yeshiva students, former Knesset member and right-wing ideologue Moshe Feiglin says that stopping the funding is the best possible thing that could happen to the world of Torah.
“It is good for the Torah and good for the charedim,” Feiglin said, since 1) No Torah study will stop 2) Yeshivos will direct private funding to those who are learning 3) Those who are not learning will learn a trade 4) The Torah world will be truly independent and will not depend on state money which comes attached to political demands.
Feiglin quoted Professor Yeshayahu Leibowitz who had requested from Ben Gurion to separate religion from state. Ben Gurion answered that he would never separate the state from religion because if it is separate it will be independent and will present a challenge for every state. Instead he wanted the state “to grip religion in its hand.”
Feiglin said that it is impossible to totally separate the Jewish religion from a Jewish state, but it should at least be separated from politics as much as possible, for example rabbis should be appointed by their own communities and not with state intervention.
He concluded: “We will all be surprised at how well the Torah world will manage without the state’s assistance.”
Moshe Feiglin
