Haredi politicians outraged at secular Jewish events for Shavuot

MK Ruth Calderon

On Tuesday, as the holiday of Shavuot begins, Israel's ultra-Orthodox will not be the only Israelis headed in droves to synagogues to pray, debate and learn in honor of the festival of the giving of the Torah. Thousands of secular Israelis will also participate in "tikkun" events (traditional Shavuot nighttime learning sessions) across the country. According to estimates, the number of secular Israelis who take part in tikkun events rises each year.

One of the pioneers behind this initiative, which began in the mid-1980s, is MK Ruth Calderon (Yesh Atid), whose goal was to pour a different, additional significance into the holiday of Shavuot. "The only connection between the secular public and this holiday was that children wore flower wreaths to preschool and brought baskets of fruits. For secular adults, this holiday had no meaning," says Calderon. "When we began organizing nighttime tikkun events on Shavuot in Tel Aviv, the aim was to customize the tradition to suit our culture and to hold a secular-religious event that would be open to music and art as well. Slowly the initiative began to blossom, and many secular populations began joining these all-night learning sessions."

On Tuesday night, Tel Aviv will host a massive tikkun event (organized by Alma -- Home for Hebrew Culture, founded by Calderon) that will include lessons, performances, tours, lectures and workshops. This year, the event will be themed "night visits" (neighborliness, hospitality, and meeting). Among other things, the Book of Ruth will be read together with poetry and commentary and a lecture on the topic.

But not everyone welcomes Calderon's initiative. The character of these tikkun events is extremely irksome to the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) politicians. "The way the secular public observes tikkun on Shavuot is a distortion of reality," says Deputy Knesset Speaker MK Yitzhak Vaknin (Shas). "I don't understand how you can incorporate loud music into the tikkun tradition when it requires the installation of a public address system and a band that plays instruments [rabbinic law, which is adhered to as strictly as Halachic law in religious circles, forbids playing instruments and using electricity on Shabbat and holidays]. It is sacrilegious. If they were to do it on a weekday, that would be fine, but on the eve of a holiday?"

"They also pray together, men and women, and let women read from the Torah and wear prayer shawls. All these things go against the Torah and the laws stipulated in the Shulchan Aruch," he added.

MK Israel Eichler (United Torah Judaism) also strongly objects to the secular version of Shavuot tikkun: "What the seculars are doing is kindergarten folklore -- very shallow. It is part of the 'other' Judaism, which will not succeed in passing any of the Jewish traditions down to future generations. When our people come to the synagogue, they feel like they are standing at Mount Sinai, making a covenant with God. Everything is very elevated."

MK Calderon lamented the haredi MKs' criticism. "I think that it is precisely these Shavuot tikkun events that present points of overlap that can be used to connect the secular and haredi publics, and give rise to a common denominator. The all-night holiday study sessions serve to intensify the experience, and each individual can use the experience to decide which parts he or she wants to get closer to."

Calderon revealed that several years ago, before she had set her sights on politics, she had encouraged then-journalist, now Finance Minister Yair Lapid (the chairman of Yesh Atid) to attend the tikkun events. Since then, Lapid attends the tikkun every year. "Lapid comes from a family that holds Jewish culture in high regard, and he was very interested in learning with us," she said.

 

israelhayom