A prominent haredi rabbi castigated Yisrael Beytenu party chairman Avidgor Liberman over the weekend, and called for increased religious education in state schools.
Rabbi Meir Mazuz, dean of the Kisse Rahamim yeshiva in Bnei Brak and spiritual leader of the Tunisian Jewish community in Israel, took aim at Liberman during his weekly lecture, pushing back on Liberman’s demand to increase core secular studies in haredi schools, and to draft haredi yeshiva students.
“Liberman says that we need to have a country where everyone will learn the core [secular] curriculum, and where all the yeshiva students will go to the army – whether to mixed [units] or not mixed units he doesn’t care,” Rabbi Mazuz said.
“Instead of worrying about the core [secular studies in our] curriculum – and I have nothing against that curriculum – Liberman should first worry about his own [secular state] schools, where no one knows a single word of Torah – they don’t even know ‘Shema Yisrael’. What is Jewish about you?”
“Without Torah every breaks down. Without Torah, we have no business being here.”