Rabbi Tzvi Yisrael Tau, Dean of Yeshivat Har Hamor, has begun speaking with uncharacteristic vehemence in his recent lectures against attempts to turn the country into a "modern Sodom," as he puts it, calling for a counterattack.
"For the past two years, we have witnessed a sharp rise in the consistent and ongoing process of changing the character of the State and society by introducing postmodern concepts and replacing the eternal values of education and morality, diminishing the importance of family and the ethos of purity in Israel, establishing immoral norms and standards, and promoting abominations in the army and in every public place," .
"There is no doubt that there are those who want to turn the State and society in Israel into the flag-bearers and cutting edge in the international marketplace of transgressors, to erase human morality in favor of all the 'abominations of the gentiles' (a biblical term referring to pagan immorality, ed.).
"They are working to topple the delicate balance preserved in the country throughout its existence - even by leaders who are far from believing in the Torah - in which religious symbols were set as a basis for public order, anchored in law, and rooted in government institutions. And they do all this without public consent, by creating facts on the ground and taking control of media discourse, creating a dictatorship of thought police.Thus, step by step, they work to turn the country into a modern Sodom.
"There is no question that we are in the midst of a culture war," he said. "This demands of us, requires of us a response ... 'If a war is waged against me, in this I trust,' says the Psalm. It is incumbent upon us to wake up. The verse means that by the very fact that war is waged against me, I gain the confidence that I have the strength and obligation to withstand it and prevail."
"For the Holy One, blessed be He, does not come to His creatures with unreasonable demands. He is the Master of War, and He who brought upon us this war so that we might discover new forces buried within us, and reach the conscious understanding that the present obstacles and our awakening to deal with them will lead us to reach our potential and bask in its light. Then we shall stand firm in the struggle for the State's and society's character, elevate it to its own intrinsic level and preserve it from sinking into the abyss of the dying Western culture which is being submerged in the morass of dehumanization, destruction of the family, negation of fatherhood, and loss of humanity."
The rabbi's words presented here were prepared and edited in Hebrew by Rabbi Yosef Chaikin.