An open letter to Rabbi Michael Chriqui
'May we aspire to unity, but not through uniformity, but rather through celebrating and tolerating our differences. Let that fine balance be our strength'
Dear Rabbi Chirqui,
Just before the end of the WZO elections in Australia, you sent out a phone message to the Sydney Beth Din data base.
In it you asked “what should be the position of Torah true Jews in relation to the elections of the WZO?” You went on to endorse the “Torah true” parties in the election: Mizrachi and Eretz HaKodesh. You warned your database, “There are forces at play that are using every means at their disposal to negate the strength of Torah Judaism with their fight for pluralism”. You concluded by telling your members “it is incumbent to vote for one of the parties (Mizrachi or Eretz Hakodesh).”
I write to you, publicly, to take umbrage at your suggestion that there are “forces at play that are using every means at their disposal to negate Torah Judaism”.
Pluralism celebrates Torah Judaism, its many interpretations, and the variety of its followers. Rabbi Chirqui, in exhorting your membership to deny this pluralism, in fact, you disqualify yourself and all who follow your direction from the very essence of what the WZO stands for, which is the unification of the Jewish people and the strengthening of the bond with Eretz Yisrael.
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