Middle of the Road: R’ Yehuda Oppenheimer

We usually think of the Aseres Yemei Teshuvah as the days between Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur. But Chazal did not call them the “seven days of repentance.” They are the Ten Days of Repentance, which means that Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur themselves are not merely the bookends of the process. They are part of it.

An Israeli news station has reported that elements associated with the Peleg Yerushalmi have been exploring the possibility of yet another chareidi political party, formed with several leading figures unsatisfied with the “mainstream” parties, one that would take an even more uncompromising position against military service. The name it has taken is “Code Black” (Tzeva Shachor), from the network they developed to alert supporters when military police attempt to arrest chareidi draft evaders. Demonstrators are then dispatched to obstruct the arrest.

Two recent stories highlight both the promise and the risks in expanding chareidi military service.

The release of a new documentary, The Darkest Light, about Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach has once again opened a discussion that many in the Jewish world probably thought had quieted down years ago.

Elul is often described as a time for introspection, improvement, and t’shuvah. We ask ourselves familiar questions: What have I done wrong? What do I need to fix? Where have I fallen short? These are important questions, certainly. But perhaps they are not yet the deepest question of Elul.

The tragedy of the M’raglim did not begin with a lie. That is part of what makes the story so frightening.