Who's Afraid of Einat Wilf?

In my first post about this MK from the Labor Party that is "married" to a gentile, I mentioned my surprise that Hadassah Magazine would interview somebody like that.

Well, I am not alone! It turns out that other readers were equally disturbed by what they read and they let Hadassah know about it:

After reading the interview with Einat Wilf (October/November issue), I wasn’t sure whether to dismiss her as a misguided Jew, or just forget about her rants. I decided to write to the editor and see if other readers have the same reactions as I do.

Wilf is clearly a member of the young elite in Israeli society. I am quite sure she has a great future in front of her. Unfortunately, this future should not be as a “Jewish” leader. Her answer to the question of what is modern Zionism’s greatest challenge is almost bordering on heresy. Her answer as quoted “I believe the Knesset is the new Sanhedrin of the Jewish people. As such, it has the right to remake Jewish law” is not only against everything Jews have lived and died for centuries, but is antithetical to every credo Jews believe in. The Knesset making religious laws? Based on what—their expertise in Talmud, Mishna or halakha? Wilf should learn a little more about how Jews survived for 5,000 years. Harvard, Cambridge and Hebrew University, where I also received my master’s of arts, unfortunately does not teach Jews how to live or even survive. Yeshivot, religious day schools and academies throughout the world have guided Jews in their every day life for thousands of years. What a sad state of affairs that this Knesset member feels she has the right to establish religious laws.

Marc Aron
Teaneck, NJ

Marc Aron hit the nail on the head: She's not fit to be a "Jewish" leader. This is especially true when we take into account the fact that she is shacking up with a gentile. This comment of his is also very insightful:

"Harvard, Cambridge and Hebrew University, where I also received my master’s of arts, unfortunately does not teach Jews how to live or even survive. Yeshivot, religious day schools and academies throughout the world have guided Jews in their every day life for thousands of years."

Jewish parents, cut that quote out and paste it on your mirror!

Here's another reaction:

The interview with Einat Wilf revealed a hostility to the Jewish religion that makes a joke of the Prayer for the State of Israel that refers to Israel as the “flowering of our redemption.” Clearly her remarks about Haredi women (“absolutely no way you can choose to travel on a segregated bus”) and her remark about “a version of medieval Judaism” show her unbridled hostility to the Jewish religion. The idea of making the Knesset the new Sanhedrin and its “right to remake Jewish law” ranges between ludicrous and shocking.

I lived and worked in Israel for 12 years. Three of my grandchildren serve in the Israeli army. If people like Einat Wilf run things I will not be able to wear a kippa on the street. Spare me from people who think as she does.

Justin Sweet
Professor of Law Emeritus, University of California
Berkeley, CA

Professor Sweet seem to be pretty upset with the lady. I wonder what he would have written if he knew that she was "married" to a gentile.