“We need you, and you need us,” former president Reuven Rivlin told the leaders of member organizations of the Conference Of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
The conference, which convened in Jerusalem for its 50th-anniversary mission, expected Rivlin to repeat his four tribes speech that he delivered during his farewell presidential visit to the US, which had been the hallmark of his presidency.
He did not evade the issue but used it as a platform from which to criticize the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) segments of society for their ongoing refusal to serve in the IDF.
The former president, 85, a seventh-generation native son of Jerusalem who had been a child during the War of Independence, recalled on Tuesday that there had been only 200,000 Jews in the country at the time, and everyone other than the anti-Zionist Neturei Karta movement had fought. It would not have occurred to anyone to refuse, Rivlin surmised.
But today, after the events of October 7, when more than ever it is the obligation of those who are able to fight to do so, the ultra-Orthodox stubbornly continue to refuse.
Challenging dilemma
On the other hand, he noted, National-Religious soldiers give their all for the security of the state but face a challenging dilemma if their rabbis should follow the lead of the haredim and demand they live a halachic lifestyle and also instruct them not to serve in the army.
Appearing to change the subject, the former president launched into the reason that Israel does not have a constitution. It’s because the different tribes cannot agree on the definition of a Jewish and democratic state, the key word being Jewish.
Most people abide by the popular definition of Jew, which is the child of a Jewish mother or a convert whose entry into the faith was facilitated by an Orthodox rabbinical tribunal.
But this is not good enough for the ultra-Orthodox. They want every person who identifies as a Jew to live a Torah-true lifestyle, which leaves no room for or recognition of Conservative, Reform, and secular Jews.
For as long as this stalemate persists, there will be no constitution, according to Rivlin.
He likened the attitude of the ultra-Orthodox to that of the biblical tribes of Reuven, Gad, and Menashe, who, following the exodus from Egypt, broke away from the other tribes and settled on the eastern side of the Jordan River. They are among the 10 lost tribes. Because they did not remain with the majority, they disappeared.
The message of togetherness and strength derived from unity was repeated by other speakers. In one of his thrusts against the refusal to serve, Rivlin declared: “We’re not fighting for freedom. We’re fighting against terror.”