Minyans and Minions

When a half- million people demonstrates, it draws attention.  Some put yesterday’s Jerusalem demonstration at 800,000 people.  Supposedly, the police monitored 400,000 cellphones, so one chacham estimated that there must have been 700,000 people present.  In any case, when there is a gathering of this magnitude, it is impressive, and people notice.  On the other side of the religious-secular divide, Yair Lapid and his anti-religious minions may not be quaking in their boots.  But, they sure do know that this is a minyan that is not to be trifled with.  The threat of jail time for those who do not serve is every bit as divisive as the failure to serve itself.  The ultra-religious in Israel are slowly gravitating toward the army and the work force, in their own way, on their own time.  Not everything can be legislated.  My suggestion to Lapid: Focus on your own secular draft dodgers and high school dropouts.  You’ll be doing something much more constructive than harassing a segment of the population that already outnumbers yours.  And now for something really interesting, go to http://www.jerusalemconnection.org/weekly and get some deep words on the weekly Torah portion.  Or, go to www.jewishspiritualbooks.com for a suite of books on Jewish meditation and prayer.  Finally for an overview of Chabad in Jerusalem, go to www.chabadjerusalem.org

Tags: Jerusalem demonstration, Yair Lapid