Former Chief Rabbi Lau: Tommy Lapid Not Anti-Religion

Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau, former Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel, came to the defense of the late Yosef "Tommy" Lapid in Ynet.

Lapid, who died early this week, has been vilified by…

… some, including who commented here.

Rabbi Lau – like Tommy Lapid a Holocaust survivor – writes in Ynet:

Lapid never attacked religion
Ex-Shinui chairman stressed that he opposes religious coercion, not Judaism
Rabbi Israel Meir Lau

My familiarity with Yosef (Tommy) Lapid spans over a period of 30 years at least, and ended last Thursday at the oncological department of Tel Aviv’s Sourasky Medical Center. I sat with him for about an hour. He was very alert, as usual, even though I knew his disease was terminal. I’m certain he too knew this was a farewell conversation.

Exactly 30 years ago, in 1978, I got a call from Tommy, who invited me for an hour-long interview on a show he hosted for Army Radio. For a whole hour we sat in the studio, with Tommy explaining to the young listeners the great importance of familiarity with Jewish matters and the customs we grew up on, as expressed in the new book I wrote. He heard [of] or saw the book, and the initiative to have me on the show was his, rather than some kind of PR man on my behalf. Tommy dedicated a whole hour to this, without any negative criticism.

With regards to his attitude to religion and to the religious, it appears he underwent some kind of change. During the dozens of years where he wrote opinion pieces, and during his three years as an author in London, I never heard him issue even one attack in a religious matter. He used to belong to what we referred to as the “Hungarian mafia,” along side Ephraim Kishon and Kariel Gardosh. The three of them did not receive religious education, but their attitude to the religious and especially to religious Zionists was very sympathetic, and certainly lacking any belligerent tone.

Five years ago, when he served as deputy prime minister and justice minister, Tommy represented the government at the March of the Living from Auschwitz to Birkenau. In his speech there he raised the question of God’s presence during the Holocaust. I did not agree with his words and mentioned it to him again in our last meeting Thursday. I did not come to stir controversy, but also did not want to cover up anything. “I replied to you gently but firmly that I disagree with you,” I reminded him.

Victims of the soul
During our meeting at the hospital I quoted the words Job tells his wife: “Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?” Tommy smiled. I asked him: When you wake up every morning with a pair of ears and eyes and a pretty big mouth and a talent for talking and writing, do you share with God all the achievements and successes or do you take it for granted? Why does the presence of God bother you and is on your agenda only during a big crisis like the Holocaust? We should not and cannot manage the account books of the Creator.

Tommy always emphasized that he is not against religion or the religious, but rather, rejects religious coercion. Therefore it hurt me a little when he joined the Shinui party and focused on struggling against issues that are dear to the heart of many Jews.

The Holocaust had six million physical victims, but it also had spiritual-religious victims. Not victims of the body, but rather, victims of the soul. People who lost their faith in the wake of the Shoah. It is possible that had there not been a Holocaust, Yosef Lapid’s great talent would have been directed to explaining the values of our people’s eternal Torah.

[Hat Tip: Seymour.]

Comments

[meyer]

Shmarya, what's up with all these Rabbis rushing to defend him. You know as well as I know that he hated religion. He ate pork on his TV show on Yom Kippur, dated Olmerts wife in a restaurant on Tisha B'av and incited mountain high hatred against charedim.

Why are these Rabbis suddenly kissing his butt?

[formely frum]

One can be respectful of religion, and religious people, but completely nonreligious.

"and incited mountain high hatred against charedim."

Maybe, but not because of their religion, or because they are religious, but because of the way they manipulate themselves to get money from the Israeli governments and the way the charedim try to impose/force their values, their believes on others.

[steve]

Meyer,

Remember the order of parshyos in Vayikra:

Metzora, Acharei Mos, Kedoshim Emor.

'Nuff said. Let him rest in peace and may hashem have mercy on his soul.

[Yosef ben Matitya]

Maybe, but not because of their religion, or because they are religious, but because of the way they manipulate themselves to get money from the Israeli governments and the way the charedim try to impose/force their values, their believes on others.

No, FF, may be not. He was not nice. He was a spiteful person and behaved with wicked derisive antagonism th those he didn't like.
Rabbi Lau has a lot of merit, although he is quick to recognise which side of the bread the butter is spread. He is extremely fond of both the bread and the butter. His opinions ought to be evaluated accordingly. And oh! yes. A very inspiring speaker!

[Hadar HaTorah]

As Justice Minister, Lapid ordered and impelemented the destruction of the synagogue at Kfar Tapuach West. For this crime alone he will never emerge from Gehennom!

[Yaakov Mascetti]

It's good Hadar Hatorah can talk to Gd and get constant updates on who is in Hell and who is in Paradise.. Btw, Hadar, are you Christian? I don't remember learning of Hell, Heaven and Purgatory in my yeshiva... But maybe you were only quoting Milton's Paradise Lost...

[Yochanan Lavie]

Yaakov: More likely Dante's Inferno.

[Yosef ben Matitya]

to HH
actually, to teach zchus on TL, at least he was not a min of any variety (a plain spiteful tinok shenishba, he was). Not a lubovizer nor another type of messianist.
Otherwise, he was not really nice.

[Partizan]

I did not hear about it before, but he had not died too soon. The man was responsible to creating the first Jewish political party that could be described in Polotical Science terminology as 'Anti-Semitic' - a political party that use Anti-Semitism as its main and open political vehicle.
Like the clasic Anti-Semite party, that of Karl Lueger's in Viena (circa 1870), TL's party had basically two principles on it's agenda
1. positive - we are honest and able (which was a lie.)
2. We hate Jews!

I hope this guy would rot in hell