Anon asked Staff ago Dear Daat Emet,
How do you explain that the percentages of violence and crime in the Charedi community are so much lower than in the general society?
You’re always bringing religious rulings, but reality is what counts.
Doron
jsadmin Staff answered 22 years ago
Dear Doron,
See our response to Violence in the Religious Sector.
Here we will add that one of the reasons for violence is power and the desire for authority and control. The Charedi society educates itself as a persecuted group, oppressed and subjugated until the coming of the Messiah, and it does not aspire to power through armed strength. It is not the laws of the Torah which lead to their self-restraint, its is their lowly status and mental degradation.
Come see how Jews who keep the Torah and the commandments behaved during the era of Roman rule, before the destruction of the Second Temple, when nationalistic and religious urges burned bright within them. It is recommended that you read the descriptions given by Joseph the son of Mattityahu in his books (The Wars of the Jews, The Antiquities of the Jews) of the crimes committed by religious Jews against themselves against the background of differing views on how to deal with the Roman authorities. We will bring an example from the testimony of Joseph the son of Mattityahu about himself, a Jew who lived in the first century CE, at the time of the Temple’s destruction. He writes: “I am not a anonymous man, I am the descendent of an ancient priestly family…on my mother’s side I am the descendent of kings, because she is from the Hashmonaean family which produced great priests for our nation…when I was yet a child, 14 years old, I was praised by all for my diligence in [Torah] learning…[when I was commander of the Galilee]a few brave young men [Jews who kept the Torah and the commandments], born in Dovrat, ambushed the wife of Ptolmey…and suddenly attacked her. The woman was force to run for her life and her goods were left as spoils…[because Joseph the son of Mattityahu intended to return the spoils to their owner, the people of Tiberius, led by Joshua the son of Tzapita wanted to kill him in the name of the Torah. Joseph, to frighten them, did the following:] The most daring of the thieves [the people of Tiberius] came to me and I scourged him with whips and ordered his hand be cut off and tied round his neck; afterwards I banished him from my presence” (The Life of Josephus, Masada Publishers, Tel Aviv, pp. 136-137).
N.B. This teaches you how great is the extent of the danger facing Israel today from those religious people who do not wait for the coming of the Messiah.
Daat Emet