The familiar sight of Chabadniks inviting youths to put on tefillin may suffer a serious setback if a bill proposed by Labor MK Ophir Paz-Pines in the Knesset on Monday becomes law. The bill would prevent adults from placing pressure on anyone under the age of 18 to increase or decrease their religious involvement.
According to Paz-Pines, too much pressure is placed on youths to alter their religious traditions. Pressing youths to observe or discard religious practices can “cause the break-up of a family and cause damage to minors,” he said.
Bill Handcuffs Chabad Tefillin Campaign
The familiar sight of Chabadniks inviting youths to put on tefillin may suffer a serious setback if a bill proposed by Labor MK Ophir Paz-Pines in the Knesset on Monday becomes law. The bill would prevent adults from placing pressure on anyone under the age of 18 to increase or decrease their religious involvement.
According to Paz-Pines, too much pressure is placed on youths to alter their religious traditions. Pressing youths to observe or discard religious practices can “cause the break-up of a family and cause damage to minors,” he said.
Menachem Brod, a spokesman for Chabad in Israel, said Paz-Pines’s bill was absurd, and was intended to undermine religious Jewish life.
“Are they telling me that if someone is lacking a 10th member for their minyan, and they go out on the street and find a 17-year-old boy, they can’t invite that bar-mitzvaed boy in to complete the minyan? This is evil,” he said. “Why do we insist on treating teenagers as though they don’t have the ability to make decisions?”
Ephraim Shore, a director of Jerusalem’s Aish Hatorah Yeshiva, disagreed with Paz-Pines’s reasoning, saying: “There are so many reasons for schisms in the family… We have a heritage that has lasted over 3,000 years and we believe in teaching it to people. This heritage has not traditionally caused schism in the family.”
Shore rejected the assertion that some teenagers might be brainwashed into adopting religious practices.
“If you teach a Jew the beauty of Shabbat and he lights candles on Friday night, that is his choice, not some brainwashing,” he said. “It’s a free country. We have a popular Web site that 2 million people visit a month. Should we change it to an ‘adult only’ Web site just so that teens won’t be exposed to the dangerous material we post there about Jewish life and traditions?”
Shore said there were dozens of programs in the US to encourage Jewish high school students to adopt Jewish traditions. He said most of Aish Hatorah’s programs were geared for young adults over the age of 18, while other organizations, such as Chabad, encouraged teenagers to get involved and participate in their programs.
Paz-Pines’s bill is the latest effort by MKs to supposedly protect youth. Earlier this month, MK Zevulun Orlev (NU-NRP) proposed a law that would make it illegal to sell lottery tickets to children under the age of 18. Two months ago Likud MKs sought to limit advertisements that could be placed near high schools.
anon
kishmo cen hu
random
israel…. we are our own worst enemy.
Anonymous
Only Israel
Levi
For all the “Religious Zionists” who falsely claim that Israel is “Aschalta D’geula”, here is just another example of the tragic anti-Semitic policies of the State of Israel. No wonder the country brought the Rebbe so much Agmas Nefesh. I don’t think that Golus is any more evident than in Israel itself.
ISchier
You are 100% right, Levi. And now Jews can BH live freely in the former Soviet Union – but the yevsektzia is alive and well once again in Eretz Yisroel.
Fix yourself first!
Paraphrasing “Levi wrote”:
For all the “Lubavitchers/Meshichistim who falsely claim that we are in ”Aschalta D’geula,” there are plenty of examples of the tragic anti-Torah policies of the Rabbonim/Leaders in our own community. No wonder they brought the Rebbe o.b.m. so much Agmas Nefesh. I don’t think that Golus is any more evident than in 770 itself.
shloime
go anon! nice comment for those who’ll get it.
Be focused!
Machloikes will definitely not bring moshiach. So instead of “Paraphrasing” what other people say, and criticizing – no matter who’s right or wrong – we should do something positive to elevate ourselves and automatically our surroundings will be influenced too. To just criticize and complain will help no one!
Gam Zu L-tovah
This will serve to protect Youth from Missionaries. It will not affect any Chabad activities
Freedom of speach and religion
I can see the police enforcing this law when invitations to a religous event is handed out but not by a secular party which is antie religion. They don’t have enough jails for this. ie every youth group, camp, bar mitzvah, tehilem raly invitation etc. Welcome to the Soviet Israel.
ISchier
Who in the world that is worth listening to EVER said we were in aschalta degeula? We are in GOLUS and the Rebbe made that very clear when speaking about religious Zionism. Being the last generation of GOLUS is still GOLUS. If anyone in Lubavitch is speaking of aschalta degeula, he needs some medication, fast.
mendy
yah!!!go be focused!!!!
we got 2 stop fighting and arguing abt everything!!!!!!!!!
ABISEL AM-ARATZUS
to fix yourself first
by the way it was the rebbe who said it’s “aschalta d’geula”
nemo
Abisel Am-Aratzus…
Do you even know what Ischalta De’Geulah means and what it refers to?? You would immediately take back such an ignorant statement is you did.
It’s a Zionistic reference to the formation of the State of Israel being a first and critical step in the coming of Moshiach.
meir
i feel this bill if passed and please g-d it will , will create a chabad un derground movement that will help bring down this evil regime. it will create a real emes situtation when going mivtzoim could land you in jail. this was the situtation during the communist era.
chabad anyway belongs underground.there’s to much chetzonus in lubavitch today.
levy
to fix yourself
when we say we are in atchalta digeula it has no conection to israel. and if u would stop being such a non blever u might c it for yourself 2.
nemo
I take that back. My bad… I was thinking of a different statement… Reishis Tzmichas Geulaseinu…. My punishment for writing late at night!
Milhouse
Nemo, no need to retract. Reshit tzmichat geulatenu is the phrase from SY Agnon’s tefillah which is said in many shuls. But the phrase used by Religious Zionists to describe the establishment of the State is indeed Aschalta Digeula, and the Rebbe was <b>VERY VERY</b> adamantly against that.
Anyone who uses the phrase and doesn’t even know that it refers to the State is way beyond stam ignorant, he shows that he uses words without a clue what they mean, and nothing he has to say is worth listening to.
And by the way, we know that the Rebbe is not Moshiach for the EXACT SAME REASON that the Rebbe told us the State was not an aschalta digeula. Those who know the Rebbe’s position on that issue will understand, and those who don’t I don’t care to enlighten.
ISchier
Nemo – you are not so far off, only because the religious Zionists use the terms interchangeably – or they did before the Gaza, Amona and Lebanon situations caused many of them to rethink their ideology.
mendy
what is this communist russia?or the jewish state of israel?