April 17, 2002
Agudath Israel of America
42 Broadway
New York, New York 10004
Attention: Rabbi Avi Shafran
I wanted to share with you some thoughts regarding the solidarity rally for Israel that I attended on Monday in Washington D.C.
As a lifelong Aguda member, I could not help but ask myself (as did countless others with whom I spoke) where was Agudath Israel of America? How was it possible that Agudas Yisroel did not urge—or at least encourage—its constituents to attend? All I heard was that the Aguda had issued a confused and mixed message amounting to "go if you want to". I must tell you that this confused message was not well received by any of the Aguda constituents with whom I spoke. No one could understand how at this critical juncture in the history of Klal Yisroel --and certainly the most critical time since the end of the Second World War -- Agudas Yisroel was sending a message of "no message".
Wasn’t it important to attend the rally if for no other reason than to be counted among those who support Eretz Yisroel and Klal Yisroel at a time when hundreds of thousands were rallying daily against Eretz Yisroel and Klal Yisroel in every major capital in Europe and the Arab world? There had not been a single major rally in the entire world in support of Achenu B’nei Yisroel. Not one. How could you stay home even if you wanted to stay home to say Tehilim all day!
One can not help but compare this to the situation 60 years ago. I have often heard Aguda leaders correctly criticize American Jewry for doing nothing while their brothers were being slaughtered in Europe. "Why didn’t they drop everything and march on Washington?" I would often hear. "Why didn’t they scream in the streets for someone to help?" Well I ask the same questions of the Aguda leadership now. (By the way, I never heard anyone in the Aguda say "American Jewry should’ve organized a Yom T’fillah in the 40’s".)
On Shabbos before the rally, I tried to reflect on the possible rationale that precluded the Aguda leadership from urging their constituents to attend. Was it that the speakers may include members of the reform, conservative or reconstructionist movements who would voice support for the Jews of Eretz Yisroel? But that couldn’t be the reason, I thought, because this wasn’t a religious or theological rally where matters of yahadus would be discussed. Moreover, is that a sufficient reason not to be counted while our brothers and sisters and their children are being murdered?
Was it that a speaker might say something that was not in line with the Aguda’s position or view on a particular subject? That suggests that Frum people would be unable to think for themselves to filter out certain negative statements from what would undoubtedly be a flood of positive statements at an urgently important rally. Moreover, if the Aguda thought that its constituents were unable to discern right from wrong, why weren’t they at least urged to stand at a corner of the rally to recite Tehilim without listening to any of the speeches just for the sake of being counted as part of Klal Yisroel?
Was it that the Aguda didn’t want the Yeshivas to be "mevatel torah"? Surely, the Aguda could have urged its Balei Batim who are working to take off from work and go, as so many of us did despite the lack of direction from the Aguda. (Moreover, I’m not sure I understand why it’s okay to close the yeshivas for two weeks before and two weeks after Pesach for "bein hazmnaim" but it’s not okay to spend a day to try to help save Acheinu B’nei Yisroel while Klal Yisroel is in an "Eis Tzoroh".) Yeshiva students could have learned and said Tehilim on the bus as so many of us did. They should have been there.
But now that I’ve been to the rally, let me tell you that the rally truly was a major Kiddush Hashem—and Agudas Yisroel was conspicuously missing. Along with the political rhetoric, people were saying Tehilim, others were putting on Tefilin for perhaps the first time, mincha minyonim sprouted out in many corners and the crowd was urged to say Shema Yisroel aloud by one speaker whose own young son was savagely beaten to death by Palestinians before he had a chance to utter those words with his last breaths. What an opportunity to demonstrate that we are an Am Echad! It is not lost on many that the Aguda’s Am Echad campaign cries were rendered hollow by its absence from the rally. If you wanted to see Am Echad, it was right there in front of the steps of the Capitol building for all to see—except, of course, if you weren’t there.
By not having a position with respect to this rally, the Aguda was perceived as separating itself from Klal Yisroel. The Aguda did not join this rally for its own parochial reasons, people said. It was looking out for its own narrow interests at the expense of the greater good of Klal Yisroel, others criticized. Whether any of that is true, and I hope it’s not, is almost besides the point. What is important is that is how Agudas Yisroel is being perceived by those who would generally be included within its ranks and you ought to know it.
People sensed the absence of leadership from the Aguda and felt that the Aguda had absolutely failed its members and left them without any moral direction. Perhaps if the Aguda had at least explained its position, or lack of one, people wouldn’t have reacted as negatively as they did. But the Aguda’s silence was deafening.
On the bus I was on, many Aguda members said they would not be renewing their Aguda memberships. In one case, I overheard someone say that he was so incensed at the Aguda that he wrote his two friends who are being honored at the Aguda dinner this year that he was not placing an ad in this year’s Aguda dinner journal in their honor but would instead send them large checks for them to give to their favorite charities –other than the Aguda.
I am still bewildered by the inaction of the Aguda leadership and pray that it is not a sign of what we can expect from Agudas Yisroel in the future.
Very truly yours,
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