“I have appointed guardians on your walls, O Jerusalem”
Important historic-Chareidi letter unlike any other, between two leaders of the generation – the gaon Rabbi Elazar Menachem Mann Shach, and the leader of the Diaspora, Rabbi Moshe Feinstein. The letter deals with the most acute core issues of religion and state that occupy the Chareidi public from the establishment of the State to this day: women’s recruitment, and autopsies, along with general Israeli topics. Kiryat HaYeshivah, Bnei Brak, 1978.
It is fascinating to read how two leaders of the generation who, with a flourish of their pens, sent tens and hundreds of thousands to the streets for exactly these issues, deliberate together and analyze the political situation and what its consequences will be for the state of religion and Judaism. It is very touching, but not at all surprising, that part of the letter is devoted to general Israeli matters that do not affect the Chareidi public at all, yet the leaders of the generation are just as concerned about the Jewishness of the university students as they are concerned about women’s recruitment.
The letter was sent in 1978, right after the 1977 “revolution” when the Right won the elections for the first time. Apparently, the ‘Iggerot Moshe’ – at his seat in America, received erroneous information that the situation in the Land of Israel had worsened regarding women’s recruitment. Rabbi Shach reassures him that the opposite is true. The situation only got better following the upheaval and “during these months the law will be amended … Usually, the minister of defense [Ezer Weizman] has a good attitude on this issue.
Later in the letter, Rabbi Shach, who is known to have been touched by the plight of the Jewish people from the depths of his pure heart, cries out about the danger of assimilation of Jewish women and Arabs in the universities, at this time when Begin is signing the peace agreements with the Egyptians: “Is there a danger greater than assimilation by university students? There are already signs of this and we have no choice but to rely on our Father in Heaven and strengthen our faith in G-d and the coming of Mashiach.”
The gaon Rabbi Elazar Menachem Shach adds about [30] words in the margins of the letter in his own hand, “I will add here what I responded to those who asked me about the general situation – blurring and confusion prevail in our time.” We will point out that in response to this letter from Rabbi Shach, the Union of Orthodox Rabbis in the United States published a clarification letter from Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, from which one can learn about the slander that arrived from the Land of Israel opposing the revision to the law regarding the women’s recruitment.
Refer to the Hebrew catalog text for brief biographies of Rabbi Elazar Menachem Mann Shach and Rabbi Moshe Feinstein .
[1] leaf paper, 25×17.5 cm. Official stationery.
Very fine condition.