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| “Bennett cannot act differently than Ben-Gurion because it would weaken Judaism, violate the holiday and desecrate God’s name,” Meyer Porush said. |
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Shas MK Moshe Abutbul: Change your itinerary or face the wrath of God. |
Naftali Bennett blasted for flying on holiday for US Jews (Not a holiday for Israeli permanent residents)
Shas MK Moshe Abutbul: Change your itinerary or face the wrath of God. (His Name Is Moshe, He Must Know What God is Going To Do)
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett
faced criticism from haredi (ultra-Orthodox) opposition MKs for
scheduling his flight home from New York after the UN General Assembly
on a day when the holiday of Simhat Torah is over in Israel but
continues for American Jews.
The
first religiously observant prime minister, Bennett also caused an
uproar two weeks ago when he traveled on Shabbat to police headquarters
to oversee efforts to find the six terrorists who had escaped from
prison. As he did when he was defense minister, Bennett uses a special
dispensation of pikuah nefesh (saving lives) to work on Shabbat and
Jewish holidays.
United
Torah Judaism MK Meir Porush said that when Israel’s first prime
minister, David Ben-Gurion, was abroad dealing with matters of state, he
would always make a point of walking instead of driving on Shabbat and
holidays.
“Bennett
cannot act differently than Ben-Gurion because it would weaken Judaism,
violate the holiday and desecrate God’s name,” Porush said.
Shas
MK Moshe Abutbul, who heads the Knesset caucus on keeping the Shabbat,
called upon Bennett to change the itinerary of his trip or risk the
wrath of God.
“It
is shameful and embarrassing that Bennett, who wears a kippah, does not
respect the Sabbath and holidays, as he is expected to do as a symbol of
the government in a Jewish state,” Abutbul said. “It would not harm
anyone if he would wait to leave, instead of forcing the Jews working
for Israel in New York to violate the holiday.
His obsession with scoring diplomatic points at the expense of
maintaining our tradition that was strictly maintained by his
predecessors who did not wear kippot will explode in his face, because
those who do not respect Shabbat and holidays do not merit the help of
God, and their work is not blessed with success.”
Bennett
was defended by veteran Jerusalem Post columnist Stewart Weiss, an
Orthodox rabbi and neighbor of the prime minister in Ra’anana, who has
been in touch with him in the past but did not speak to him about this
issue.
“Technically,
once the holiday is over for him, he can travel,” Weiss said. “There is
the consideration that a resident of the Land of Israel should keep
actions that are prohibited to the local Jewish community out of the
public view, so as not to confuse people as to when the holiday ends.
“But
in my opinion, the fact that the prime minister must return to Israel
to manage the country – and all the life-affecting decisions that
entails – is an extenuating circumstance that allows him to come home as
quickly as possible once the holiday ends for him. At the same time,
efforts must be made to limit any desecration of the holiday by local
Jews who do not have this same dispensation.”
Bennett’s spokesman said the criticism was nonsense.
“That is only for the Americans,” he said. “We are not American.”
בני ארץ ישראל שבאו לחוצה לארץ אסורים לעשות מלאכה ביו"ט שני ביישוב אפילו דעתו לחזור וכל זמן שלא הגיעו ליישוב אפילו אין דעתו לחזור מותר לפי שעדיין לא הוקבע להיות כמותן אבל אם הגיע ליישוב ואין דעתו לחזור נעשה כמותן ואסור בין במדבר בין ביישוב וכל חוץ לתחום אין נותנין עליו חומרי מקום שהלכו לשם: