- Family and Society
- General Questions
169
Question
How did the Satmar community become misled? How come they still insist on being the way they are?
Answer
Haredim have a tendency to view everyone else as they viewed the “outsider” gentiles in the diaspora (Satmar propaganda can't stand even Lubavitch or Agudat Yisrael, and says that religious Zionists aren’t Jewish, even though really, halachically, even secular Jews are!), in order to insulate themselves from influence. They are different from most other religious Jews, in that they view everything as it was “traditionally” just for the past 2,000 years of exile, and as is common for religious people, they are very wary of any change. Their mistake is that Zionism and Jewish nationalism isn’t Reform, but rather returning to the original Bible. In short, it's difficult to take the Jews out of exile, but even harder to take the exile out of the Jews.
Thanks God, most Haredim are anti-Satmar, and there are many different shades, including those who work, those who serve in the army, those who pay taxes, and actually, aside from Satmar, most Haredim vote in the elections.
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