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Rav Yitzchok Scheiner delivers a tough message: Yesh Atid and Bayit Yehudi are a reform movement that want to destroy Charedi Judaism
Post and commentary with translation of Hebrew words in square brackets by RaP. American-born but long-time resident of Israel, the highly influential and outspoken Rabbi Yitzchok Scheiner is the Rosh Yeshiva of the Kaminetz Yeshiva in Jerusalem. He is also an active and outspoken member of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of the Agudah in Israel. He often travels back to the United States to speak at many events and has recently gained the support of a wealthy Charedi American philanthropist to invest about $35 million to build a new campus for the Kaminetz Yeshiva that Rabbi Scheiner heads in Jerusalem,. The following extract appeared in the latest edition of the English-language Hamodia: 18 Tammuz 5773 | Wednesday, June 26, 2013 What Connects Us All? Transcript of Teleconference: Timely Divrei Chizuk [words of encouragement] from Gedolim and Rabbanim

Harav Yitzchok Sheiner, shlita Rosh Yeshivah of Kaminetz, Yerushalayim

[Speaking from Israel via teleconference, remarks delivered in English.] I would like to say a few words about the terrible situation in which Yahadus hachareidis [Charedi Judaism] finds itself now in Israel. Ive been living in this country since before the state, and I dont remember such a situation We know that today the Arabs hate Jews. It sounds strange, but in my eyes, the Zionists, the State, the Knesset, the Rosh Memshalah [Prime Minister, Netanyahu]they hate us just as much as the Arabs hate the Jews. And just like the Arabs will never make peace with the Jews because they want them out of there, the Knesset and the State and Yair Lapid [head of the Yesh Atid party] and Naftali Bennett [head of the Bayit Yehudi party] want the chareidim out of here. They put it in nice language. No, no, we are their best friends and we love them, and we want to help them. We want only one thing, they should stop being chareidim, and they should be good Jews.

Theyre very religious people, those Zionists, they believe with all their hearts in their religion. They believe; theyre sincere. They believe that chareidim are leeches and are responsible for all the problems in IsraelYair Lapid repeats many, many times that everything thats wrong with our economy, and whatever is wrong with whatever, is due to the chareidim Its just like the Christians said in Spain: they love the Jews, if theyll only say that they believe in their religionBut if they are Jews, then they have no place here. Either they have to die, or move away, or disappear We are fooling ourselves into thinking that Naftali Bennett is different than the Mizrachi [Religious Zionism] always were. We have to remember that many years before the state, there was a meeting of Mizrachi, and there were 298 members there, and they voted to close the yeshivos. And one of theirs, Rabbi Nahriya he was [a Mizrachi leader] said that what happened tonight in tonights vote, that vote to close the yeshivos, like Yair Lapid is doing today, that is bgematriya retzach. [the numerological sum of the numbers 298 was equal to the Hebrew word for murder]. Retzach is the 298 votes that the Mizrachi voted to close the yeshivos. The second question I was supposed to discuss is, in our generation, not everybody learned in a yeshivah [Talmudical school]. Yair Lapid is quoting the number two speech of mine that Im supposed to speak about. That in our generation, those who didnt succeed in learning went to work, and left the yeshivah, and so whats the big deal? That would be fine, but we should remember that in our generation those who left yeshivah and went to work were even frummer [more religious] than those who were in the yeshivah. Because they didnt leave Yiddishkeit [Judaism]. In learning they didnt succeed, so they were ehrliche Yidden [honest Jews] from alef to tav [from a to b / from beginning to end], not in yeshivah. They made a seder [set time / schedule] to learn [Torah] after Shacharis [morning prayers], to learn between Minchah [afternoon prayers] and Maariv [evening prayers]. They loved Yiddishkeit [Judaism]. They loved Kakadosh Baruch Hu [the Holy One Blessed be His Name]. And what these people want from us is not that we should leave the yeshivah; they want that we should leave Yiddishkeit [Judaism]. We have to realize that Yair Lapid is a very religious man. He claims that hes an atheist. Hes trying to destroy every vestige of Judaism. He wants to change everything, not only the yeshivos. He wants to change the marriage laws, and you name it. Everything that the reformers have been doing all over the world until they disappeared and it wont be long before Yair Lapid and Naftali Bennett disappear, too, just like the reformers of all generations. So its not a question of leaving yeshivah and going to work. Do you know, they just cut 25 percent of the segel hakashrut [department of Kosher supervision] in the army. And now they want to cut 25 percent of the expenses of kashrus [kosher] before they take in

3 one chareidi. And then when they take in more chareidim, theyll cut it another 25 percent, because what they want to do is make the chareidim just one of them, accept their religion. So we should know that the name of the game today is: This is a reform movement that wants to destroy our religionthe sar habriut [Minister of Health] gave instructions now to Kupat Cholim [national medical insurance] about tznius [Jewish law rules of modesty between men and women]. The Yiddishe tsnius [Jewish modesty] they want to destroy! Youre not allowed to have separate receptions in the kupot cholim for men and women Youre going against women. Halevai [if only / they wish they had] they would have one percent of our respect for our women. But they want to destroy every vestige of true chareidus [Charedi Judaism], or true Yiddishkeit [Judaism]. They tell us chareidim; they mean Yiddishkeit [Judaism]. [Yair Lapid] claims hes our friend I dont know if he doesnt hate our guts, some of us. But the bottom line is they want to destroy us as chareidim. And we should know that thats the name of the game, and we have to be moser nefesh [self-sacrifice] for Yiddishkeit [Judaism] like Yidden [Jews] were all through the generations.