Haredim in the central Israeli city of Petach Tikvah are enraged because an official city-organized Shavuot event included a talk by the centrist Yesh Atid Party’s very secular chairman, Member of Knesset Yair Lapid, who is hated by haredim because he and his party were the force behind reforms meant to draft haredim into Israel’s military and force them to leave their yeshivas and join the workforce after that.
Above: Yair Lapid
Haredim Enraged After Secular ‘Satan’ Invited To Teach Torah On Shavuot
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com
Haredim in the central Israeli city of Petach Tikvah are enraged because an official city-organized Shavuot event included a talk by the centrist Yesh Atid Party’s very secular chairman, Member of Knesset Yair Lapid, who is hated by haredim because he and his party were the force behind reforms meant to draft haredim into Israel’s military and force them to leave their yeshivas and join the workforce after that.
According to a report in Yeshiva World based on a report in the haredi news website Kikar HaShabbat, haredi leaders in the city complained that in order for Lapid to speak at the event, he had to drive on Yom Tov to get to Petach Tikva – a violation of halakha (Orthodox Jewish law).
“The city’s chief rabbi did his utmost to have the event canceled, albeit without success,” the local boss of the Ashkenazi haredi United Torah Judaism Party, Eliyahu Bruchi, reportedly said.
The event’s organizers claim they invited Lapid to stay in Petach Tikva for the entire two-day Shabbat and holiday and arranged meals for him, but Lapid, who is secular, declined their offer. Making those arrangements and offering them to Lapid is similar to what haredi kiruv (missionary outreach) groups do all the time in the Diaspora based on decisions made for those groups by top haredi rabbis.
Petach Tikvah city officials reportedly say the event was intended to be an outreach-style event where Orthodox and secular Jews could join together. The city pointed out that to respect the Orthodox participants, no microphones were used at the event, the lights and air conditioners were operated by timers, and there was no violation of Yom Tov laws there.
Lapid – who is frequently compared by haredi media to Amalek, Haman, Hitler and other archenemies of the Jewish people and to the Satan – reportedly spoke about the divine punishment of Moses for various violations while leading the ancient Israelites out of Egypt and to the edge of the Promised Land.