Dov Lipman – In His Own Words (“Kind David is My Guy, A Warrior, A Politician”)

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dov-lipmanAs the Dov Lipman saga continues to rage on and there is greater awareness in the Orthodox world of his true motives and beliefs, Matzav.com presents Dov’s policies, goals and feelings – in his own words – culled from interviews he has given and comments he has made.

If a woman sticks out her hand, I’ll shake her hand. To create a situation of embarrassment, I would never do that. Her feelings far outweigh…

Dov Lipman, The Jerusalem Post, January 24, 2013

We really have tremendous unity within the party. I’ve become really close to Micky Levi, he’s become my mentor in all of this. But one of the more unusual relationships is my relationship with Yael German. She’s formerly from the Meretz party, very secular, female, older, and we’ve become very close. We talk openly about things, religion and state issues.

Dov Lipman, Times of Israel, February 19, 2013

The prime minister is desperate. Intelligent, educated, seasoned, military experts are not willing to go along with his plans. So, what does someone do in Israeli politics when they are in need of support for their plans? Right. He turns to the extremist and out-of-touch rabbi.
Dov Lipman referring to Rav Ovadiah Yosef, Times of Israel, August 21, 2012

Let’s take a step back and see where the average yeshiva high school boy stands upon graduation from high school. Is he fluent in Hebrew? No. Can he prepare a Gemara on his own? No. Does he enjoy studying Gemara? No. Does he know Tanach? No. Does he enjoy davening? No. Does he understand basic Jewish philosophy about God, the purpose of creation, and why we do the things we do? No. Does he stand head and shoulders above the rest of society in terms of his dedication to acts of loving-kindness and basic human decency? No.
Dov Lipman, The Jewish Press, August 1, 2012

If we think about what we’re asking from, it’s clear to me that they’re not coming from a perspective of what’s really best for Torah. And I’m comfortable saying that. They’re coming from a controlling, corrupt perspective… Think about it for a minute: what happens if the system as we have it now doesn’t exist? Why do you need Degel Hatorah [one of the parties making up the United Torah Judaism faction] anymore? Why do you need Shas anymore? What we’re basically saying is that there’s no need for you to be there anymore to protect your little sectarian interest, and that’s devastating to their whole infrastructure. I don’t think it’s best for Haredi youth. I think what’s best is exactly what our plan says, and that’s why I’m willing to go with this until the end.

Dov Lipman, Times of Israel, February 19, 2013

I just feel that the lack of willingness to study basic history and understand what our rabbis used to be like – the average kid in a Haredi school doesn’t know who the Rambam was… They’re studying Talmud, for the most part in a very hypothetical, theoretical type of way. They don’t, say, take the Tanach [Bible] and understand who King David was… King David is my guy… He was a warrior, a politician who had to deal with coalitions and struggles and even moral struggles in his life, and crises of faith. These are real issues and we don’t teach those to our children.

Dov Lipman, Times of Israel, February 19, 2013

They’ll open up a Talmud and they’ll read a line in the Talmud. And then they’ll read the Rashi and then they will read the Tosfot and then they will read the Rishonim on it and then the Aharonim on it and they’ll spend a day analyzing that line of the Talmud and all the commentaries, and that’s it… Primarily two areas of the Talmud: Nashim and Nezikin: Women-related issues and damages. Those are two primaries issues that the yeshivas deal with. I would have a much harder time making my argument if we saw tens of thousands of the most brilliant Talmudic scholars who mastered every possible classic text and were writing great works of new thought and ideas. I’d still argue my case, but it’d be harder for me. But we don’t see that. You don’t see the results.

Dov Lipman, Times of Israel, February 19, 2013

Studying Torah day and night is what I went through one year when I was in yeshiva – one year, when I left the Beit Midrash at 1:30 in the morning and was back in the Beit Midrash at 6:30 in the morning. I was just on fire in learning, so to speak. And then after a year – I loved it but you can’t do more of that… It’s not a normal thing for a human being to be studying Torah, full-fledged, day and night.

Dov Lipman, Times of Israel, February 19, 2013

You’d think the Haredi political leadership would say, wow, this Yair Lapid is really [great]… Over the course of these five years, our plan says, we have to build programs, programs in the army that really suit the Haredi population’s needs. And for those who are aren’t going to serve in the army – we know there are those who aren’t going to serve in the army – we have to have national service programs, which, again, suit their needs. In all those programs we are saying, You can have Torah together with it. No one is saying: no learning. That’s one of the things that, by the way, the last few days, have been burning inside of me. I was on the radio yesterday and they said: “How can you, Dov Lipman, as a Haredi rabbi, raise your hand to vote for a law that says that only 400 people can study Torah?” I said: “Stop saying things that are lies. That’s not what our law will say.” The law might say that only 400 per year exclusively study Torah. But the programs for the army – you have yeshivat hesder right now for the religious community – [combining yeshiva study with army service]. They’re not learning Torah? Why are you saying not learning Torah? They’re the ones who are not compromising

Dov Lipman, Times of Israel, February 19, 2013

How did we get here? The rest of Israel is to blame. Because both right-wing and left-wing governments throughout have given the ultra-Orthodox parties whatever they wanted because they needed to form a coalition to advance their own [interests] – that’s how we got here… This whole Da’as Torah phenomenon, where the rabbi decides everything in my own life, is something that I think is also foreign. People ask me: which rabbi did I ask before I joined Yair Lapid. I made a decision. I spoke to some people for advice, I did talk it over with some people because I wanted to make sure, but I didn’t ask for a psak [religious ruling]. It’s not halacha [religious law]. Halacha is: is this pot kosher or not kosher? If you don’t know the halacha yourself, you ask the rabbi for that. The idea that the control over our community, and this degree of getting involved in politics – we never had this before.

Dov Lipman, Times of Israel, February 19, 2013

I am a Zionist on every level. This created a challenge for me when I studied in a haredi (ultra-Orthodox) yeshiva in Jerusalem where rabbis never mentioned Israel’s Memorial Day, Israel’s Independence Day, or Jerusalem Day. No prayers were said for the state or on behalf of the IDF soldiers. These omissions disturbed me but my arguments about the magnitude of our return to Israel and Jerusalem fell on deaf ears.
Dov Lipman, The Jerusalem Post, April 23, 2012

…what about the claim that monumental steps towards the Messiah’s arrival cannot possibly be driven by secular leaders? This argument holds no weight. The Bible, especially in the book of Kings, reveals that God is willing to perform great miracles and brings salvation through individuals far more anti-religious than any of the state’s secular founders and leaders.
Dov Lipman, The Jerusalem Post, April 23, 2012

You will stick even to the number of 400 annual army exemptions for outstanding scholars?

I don’t think it will be 400. I want to be the one to write that test for the 18-year-old. The test that is going to decide which 18-year-olds can study Torah day and night. I want to write that test. It’ll be less than 400.

Your point being that fewer than 400 people are skilled enough to pass the test?

So skilled and so steeped in learning and so love learning…

Do you think it would be justified to actually have fewer than 400 exemplary students?

Yes.

And what about the Haredi argument that the whole Torah world was decimated by the Holocaust and we need to build up scholarship and it will take time and that we need to over-invest in that?

That argument made sense in 1950, in 1960. It doesn’t make sense today when we rebuilt Torah.

Is this a golden age of Torah study?

Yes, it’s flourishing – but I don’t think you have to define that by how many are exclusively learning. I think it’s defined by Torah being available to the masses and the structures that are there. It’s all there, but you can combine it together with other pursuits. If I, in Ner Israel, was able to study as much as I learned there and walk out with a Master’s Degree from Johns Hopkins… I’m not brilliant. I’m not. I worked hard. It can be done here together with army service, with national service.

Dov Lipman in an interview with Times of Israel, February 19, 2013

King Ahab, who married a non-Jew, encouraged idol worship and stood silent while his wife killed prophet s was told by a prophet that he would lead troops to miraculous victory (see Kings I 20:13-14). Omri, identified as a greater sinner than all the wicked Jewish kings before him, (Kings I 16:25), merited a long-lasting dynasty because he added a city to the Land of Israel (Sanhedrin 102b) despite the fact that his intention in adding that city was to eliminate Jerusalem as the focus of the Jews! The secular leaders of the State of Israel most certainly have more noble intentions in building Israeli cities and, thus, can certainly merit playing a role in the redemption process.
Dov Lipman, The Jerusalem Post, April 23, 2012

There really is no escaping it. Haredim, who accept the Bible, the Talmud, and the rabbis throughout the ages as conveying the word of God, should embrace Zionism and the State of Israel as positive developments and essential to the redemption process. I look forward to the day when all fellow haredim will open their eyes to see these clear sources and join to get her with the rest of Israel to pray for the welfare of our soldiers (and even serve as soldiers, themselves!), mourn those who have been killed in the line of duty, and celebrate the great miracles of our independence and return to Jerusalem.

Dov Lipman, The Jerusalem Post, April 23, 2012

While I am passionate about my Orthodoxy and have written books about it, we cannot force people to do what we believe. We have pushed people further and further away from Judaism. If the country decides that it won’t support any religious services then that is fine. But I see no justification for supporting the services of some and not others in a democracy. Regarding marriages, I actually believe that forcing people into Kiddusin and Nesuin when they don’t want it actually causes worse halachic problems when they leave those marriages without a halachic process. At the same time that we do this, we should change the Rabbanut to be far more embracing, loving, caring, and user friendly and this will without a doubt draw people to make use of the rabbanut. I meet secular people throughout the country who say, “I hate Judaism and I hate that I hate Judaism.” It is time for us to begin the process of creating a strong and proud Judaism in Israel and taking these bold steps will begin that process.

Dov Lipman, Life in Israel, February 17, 2013

Yair Lapid, a secular icon (who believes in G-d and appreciates the richness and value of Torah), stood up and said to the religious world, “Let’s work together.” I believe that din v’cheshbon will have to be given by all who mock that call and turn away from it. Every source about geulah says that one thing will bring it – unity. And it is right there in front of our eyes. We have to grab it. It is time to stop looking at things as “us versus them” since most on the secular side don’t see it that way anymore. In the last two days, more words of Torah have been shared in the Knesset chamber than in any two day period in its history – and it came from Yesh Atid MK’s – both religious and secular. When we had a get together with our spouses at Yair Lapid’s house, we all stood in a circle and sang Adon Olam and Shir Hamaalos. Something special is happening and I hope people open their eyes to see it, join it, applaud it, and daven for it to succeed.

Dov Lipman, Life in Israel, February 17, 2013

Everyone, including yeshiva students, is obligated to contribute to the state through military or civil service. I am proud to be an MK for a party that has a visionary leader who understands the time has come to restore the true Jewish tradition, which combines Torah with work.

Dov Lipman, speech to Knesset, February 13, 2013

[Essentially everyone will need to be in the IDF or national service and the] legislation [will] take hold immediately, [but] it will be five years before everyone is serving, giving time to army leaders to build programs.

Dov Lipman, The Jerusalem Post, January 24, 2013

If I do have someone on the other [Palestinian] side willing to make an agreement, and there was a need to give up parts of Israel, which I love and cherish as much as anyone else, I would do it.

Dov Lipman, The Jerusalem Post, January 24, 2013

If I felt it necessary in order to reach an international agreement with the support of the US and important nations to have a peace deal, I would.

Dov Lipman on whether he would shake the hand of Mahmoud Abbas, The Jerusalem Post, January 24, 2013

[I advocate for a] broader conversion policy with other streams of Judaism included.

Dov Lipman, The Jerusalem Post, January 24, 2013

It is wrong for us to legislate anyone having to get married according to halacha. The rabbinate needs to be far more embracing.

Dov Lipman commenting on civil marriages in Israel, The Jerusalem Post, January 24, 2013

A week before the elections, [Shas party spiritual leader] Rav Ovadia Yosef came to Beit Shemesh for a campaign rally. I went to be a fly on the wall. I was sitting there in the gymnasium; there were thousands of people, secular people, Sephardim, in old Beit Shemesh. Rav Ovadia Yosef came in and, I heard [what he said] with my own ears: “If you vote for Moshe Abutbul next week, you’ll get the World to Come.” At that moment, I realized we [in the Lerner campaign] lost. I can’t offer that [the World to Come] to anybody. And we lost. People who are not Haredi, who are not even religious, are going to vote Shas. Next week, sure enough, close to 5,000 not-observant people in Beit Shemesh voted for Abutbul, and the difference was 4,000 votes between us. That just showed me the depth of what I view as corrupt, between religion and politics in the country. I just felt that it’s one thing to say we’re for religion and state in Israel. I get that – it has to be a Jewish country. But this should not be place for religion or that kind of perspective in the political realm.

Dov Lipman, Times of Israel, February 19, 2013

You can’t even argue that, “Well, without the general studies somehow… [the Torah would be better]” – it’s just not true. Historically, we’ve always been people who study the wisdom of the world, all the great rabbis. Going to work is a major ideal; it’s not a minor ideal. If you look at the sources it’s so clear that that’s what we’re supposed to be doing. With army [service] it gets more complicated. I obviously support it but I can understand some of the fears. So create another system where they can serve in some other way. The idea of service certainly is a part of who we are.

Dov Lipman, Times of Israel, February 19, 2013

I certainly see a direct link between the extremism in Beit Shemesh and the isolationism that comes from that perspective. Meaning, the more you isolate yourself and your children from the rest of the world, that breeds extremism. And that enables an environment where crazy people can come out to the street and do such things… I feel the Haredi community enables extremists to act the way they do. If it wasn’t so isolated, so unwilling to say “We’re together with the rest of the country” – it’s always us against them… I really believe that general education, going to work, and serving in the army will help in general with the whole religious scene.

Dov Lipman, Times of Israel, February 19, 2013

But this [Haredi] community has placed itself where it has precisely because it doesn’t want to interact with the rest of the secular and non-Ultra-Orthodox society. Because it thinks that society is toxic.

Dov Lipman, Times of Israel, February 19, 2013

Some leaders – unfortunately they won’t let me reveal their names and hopefully people will know that I’m not making this up – but one in particular said to me: We, Yesh Atid, are the salvation of the Haredi community. We will save the Haredi community from themselves.

Dov Lipman, Times of Israel, February 19, 2013

…there’s nobody in the community who has the ability to make this happen, just because of the system and the way it’s controlled. …the only thing that could save it was legislation that requires certain changes. Some will protest it and not do it and not be martyrs but others will rise to the occasion and say: okay, this is what it is. If, in Lakewood, New Jersey [a town with many Haredim], they have general studies, and Satmar [Hasidim] in Monroe, New York [have it too], then they can have it here also. It changes who they are, it just opens them up. The Satmar in New York, okay, so we might disagree ideologically about Israel, and they might do a crazy protest here and there, but they go to work and they function in a society. And that’s something that, long-term, has to happen here as well.

Dov Lipman, Times of Israel, February 19, 2013

The Rabbinate in general, the whole approach to religion in the country, what I view as the improper connection between religion and politics – all these issues very much spoke to me.

Dov Lipman, Times of Israel, February 19, 2013

I think my Hebrew is terrible. I really do. But people are blown away – every interview I do they saw, wow, you’re here eight and a half years, and you’re great. So I run with it. I’m going to work on it more. The biggest thing is that the numbers are all messed up. It’s wrong, meaning I want to change it: because the zachar and nekeva [masculine and feminine] – it’s the opposite of what it should be. So that’s what I always mess up. But I’m totally comfortable getting up and speaking in Hebrew.

Dov Lipman, Times of Israel, February 19, 2013

[I am] someone who studied in Ultra-Orthodox yeshivas. Someone who very much identifies with many of the concerns of the Ultra-Orthodox community, in terms of influence of the outside world and certain things that are foreign to us religiously. That’s part one. But [someone] who has made a transformation and sees himself as part of the world, [so] that one could call me modern Haredi, or moderate Haredi, or Zionist Haredi. That’s a combination that – for someone from the secular world, it would almost be easier to know they’re dealing with an Israeli Haredi.

Dov Lipman, Times of Israel, February 19, 2013

First of all, Rabbi Shai Piron, who is the number two [in Yesh Atid], …is a religious Zionist rabbi. For me it was reassuring – it showed that everything Yair said was true, about his desire to work with the religious community. That’s a huge statement and a very bold step…

Dov Lipman, Times of Israel, February 19, 2013

My part in it is to say that: I believe that our platform is the compromise. That’s what the Haredi parties don’t seem to understand. They’re like: you have to compromise. If Yair and Yesh Atid, if we were saying that tomorrow, we want to take everybody out of the Beit Medrash [study hall] and go to the army, then I could understand the Haredi community coming and saying, “We can’t, you’ve got to compromise.” But the platform itself is the compromise. The platform says that first of all, for the next five years, almost nothing happens. For the next five years, a Haredi who wants to work can just go to work. Leave yeshiva or kollel [yeshiva for married men] and go to work. There are estimates that close to 40 percent would leave.

Dov Lipman, Times of Israel, February 19, 2013

If there is anybody here who is not compromising it’s the ultra-Orthodox political leadership. I believe in our plan. I believe it’s the compromise. I believe that we will stick to it.

Dov Lipman, Times of Israel, February 19, 2013

How did we get into this situation of mass full-time Torah study, and vast numbers of Haredi males not working? This is anti-rabbinical, this is not authentic Orthodox Judaism.

Dov Lipman, Times of Israel, February 19, 2013

Yeah. I believe [Yair Lapid] is very special. I believe that he is a passionate Zionist who loves Israel and the Jewish people, who left the cushiest of cushiest jobs anyone can ask for [as a TV anchor], for far less pay, far more grief, far less family time, because he really believes we need to do something that changes the direction of the country. And I do see him in that way. I see him as a human being; obviously people have their flaws as well, as humans. But he’s a leader. He has a vision of where he wants the country to be and that’s what we need.

Dov Lipman, Times of Israel, February 19, 2013

{Compiled by Matzav.com Israel News Bureau}


95 COMMENTS

  1. Thank you for pulling together these quotes. IT reveals Lipman for the hater he is, dressed in a nice suit, a kipah, and a tie, while he dines with the female MKs he’s “close” with and with Yair Lapid.

    Shame Shame Shame

  2. Quite a selection, and every single one taken out of context. I can read the whole thing through and still not know what he really thinks, because I don’t know under what circumstances he said what. Yo would have done better with fewer quotes and more background.

  3. “should embrace Zionism and the State of Israel as positive developments and essential to the redemption process.” That will never happen. The Birth of the State of Israel, will pass on just like anything that is Born. We Jews, were Chosen to be an Am Kadosh, Forever. We are few, but the link in the Chain will be unbroken, by people like Lipman. The State was conceived in Sin. To uproot Torah & its connection to Hashem. Even the USA, recognize God, as in “God We Trust”, or “God Bless America”. But in Israel, Nothing to do with God, it is all “Am Chofshe” Koach Atzmeynu. Lipman is another unfortunate misguided individual. Chag Sameach as we strengthen our 3325 years link from Har Sinai.

  4. Wow thank you for sharing the words of this true Gadol biysrael! No wonder he is successful he has Hkadosh baruch hum on his side

  5. While i may disagree with some of what he said – I don’t think he deserves the negative and personal attacks he has been getting

    if you don’t like what he says you have every right to argue, but whats with all the name calling?

  6. the left wing nuts will try to spin this as being positive for Lipman because they agree with all his anti-Torah hate.
    He is anti Torah, anti frum, anti Hashem. period

  7. Wow! Thank you Matzav for posting this. My head is spinning! Lipman is not just a nut. He is extremely dangerous! He should be put in Cherem! He is similar to my husband, Haman. He started out as a street sweeper & now rose to power in the Government! He was born to be an Eved!

  8. SHem Reshaim Yirkav! somebodey who wants to destroy Torah Masked By a “Frum” appearance is the lowest Scum Bag.

  9. Thank you Matzav for unmasking this modern day self-hater. He wins people over by using easy talking points, everyone wants charedim to have parnasa and sure, there are problems with our system and a need for solutions, but as you see, these comments show a darker side

  10. Not much has changed for our Dov since Silver Springs, still hasnt learned his lesson to do his thing quietly, humbly and with wisdom and foresight.

    Dov, you want attention? Resign, make your old friends proud, and do from within, not from without.

  11. One thing really puzzls me about people who like this guy: How is it possible that a “Chareidi Rabbi” who only wants the best for Torah sees eye to eye in everything with a leftist enemy of Torah?

  12. kol hakavod to you for standing up for the emes
    everyone else is afraid to stand up to this rasha merushah

  13. Lip-man

    He is more lip than man. Sounds like an utter ignoramus.

    He can blast the yeshiva world, but g-d forbid we expose him, then we become sonei Yisroel. Ha ha. Stop the joking

  14. when you read this all together, you get a good (or bad) feel for exactly who we are dealing with.
    Even if the statements individually are at best nothing, together they form a bad portrayal of a misguided foolish man.

  15. Can Lipman tell us who he consults with on issues? WHo? Anyone? Or does he shmooze it over with his rebbetzin and then decide what is best for Klal Yisroel.

  16. What. About intermarriage should we allow. That
    ?! Think about the embarrassed Arab who wants roto marry an Israeli Guy tell her no? You can nonot do that.

  17. Matzav,

    You should be ashamed of yourself. You have nothing intelligent to say, so you resort to character assassination.

  18. Many of these I indeed found offensive. A few of these, I found innocuous. However, IMHO, the most egregious statement – more than any above – is referring to Rav Ovadia Yosef:

    The prime minister is desperate. Intelligent, educated, seasoned, military experts are not willing to go along with his plans. So, what does someone do in Israeli politics when they are in need of support for their plans? Right. He turns to the extremist and out-of-touch rabbi.

  19. Wow!
    “King David is my guy!”
    David Hamelech is not a guy. He is not your guy, or anybody else’s, for that matter.
    Fear of Shamayim, begins with fear of His cherished disciples here on earth.
    ‘Nuff said.

  20. You need to add the comments Lipman made regarding the Kollel men who should sweep the streets during their vacations.
    Those comments really sum him up.
    He has gone off.

  21. Kol hakavod to MK Rabbi Dov Lipman for being brave enough to get up, speak the truth and be a man where there was none before.

    Every single statement rings of Torah and Emet

  22. Thank you, Matzav, for posting R. Lipman in his own words. He sounds entirely reasonable, far more nuanced than his opponents make him out to be and far more civil than are his opponents in their comments about him.

  23. What an oxymoron. His hero is Dovid HaMelech!Dovid HaMelech would never have made a deal with Yesh Atid and played both sides of the game. You’re either on the right side or the wrong side! King David was pure truth and always admitted his mistakes.

  24. Thank You. Very enlightening. So we are dealing with a guy that is pretty much reform/conservative but dresses up like a Chareidi. Is it purim all year long?

  25. a crooked mind sometimes cannot be straightened. Lipman is nebach an apikores. Nebach an apikores is oich an apikores.

  26. A wolf in sheeps clothing. Hes no talmid chacham, yet HE WANTS TO RIGHT THE TEST THAT WILL DECIDE WHO IS A TALMID CHACHAM!!!!!!!!

  27. Lipman should stick with his cronies from Bet Shemesh who think he is the messiah. Let him stop calling himself chareidi. He is not.

  28. Oldtimer (#3): If it’s context you’re worried about, you can read the full interviews for yourself (Times of Israel, for example). It won’t appear any more kosher.

  29. As one who learned with Dov back in the day in NIRC I can tell you this: Essentially Dov Lipman craves attention. He started getting some when he ‘defended’ the little girl in Bet Shemesh, and from there it snowballed. The media like a so called charedi who was different than the fanatics, so they thrust microphones in his face. And Dov never met a mic that he didnt like….
    He then thought he might get somwhere with CHaim Amsallems party, but things soured between them, (as two publicity hounds can sometimes step on each other). Lapid came along and offered him some glory, noone ever thought number 17 on the list would make it in, but he did, and the rest is history.
    WE are now giving poor little Dovi- who used to be just a nerdy kid from Silver Spring (who everyone ignored) – more attention than he ever dreamed of! He is LIVING IT UP. SO what if he needed to toe the (racist) party line, and throw his (former) community under the bus…

  30. Lipman disgraced Torah leaders. WIll he ask forgiveness?

  31. This kid, Dovy, sounds like a real twerp! If he was our classmate, we would give him the silent treatment. Cleaning the streets sounded much more on his level.

  32. Dov should be shaking in his boots. He’s being made into a bigger fool every day. Is it true that his name is begematriya tipish?

  33. Great job for giving him a free platform. At least lipman is trying. What precisely are u doing about the unemployment issue.

  34. Dear Editor:

    I appreciate your candor in exposing yourself for all the world to see as a peddler of Sheker V’Chozov. Altering and mangling my comments, which were written in a very civilized manner, is the height of intellectual dishonesty, which I now understand characterizes this entire website. To call yourselves the “Online Voice of Torah Jewry” is a Chillul Hashem of monstrous proportion and you are at the very center of why Charedim are held in such low disregard.

    Shame on you!

  35. This is a lot to absorb. The overall indication is that he feels that his experience in yeshiva is typical, and since he failed everyone else must be a failure.

    This smells very much like Bialik who attended Volozhin, and by all accounts put in great energy for 2 years, enjoying learning very much. In the end his twisted haskofo betrayed him and he returned to his previous ways of thinking, dragging himself and people who respected him back into the dirt. Lipman is simply another Bialik, without the brilliance.

    Every year parshas Korach one has the irrational tendency to keep hoping that Korach won’t go where he’s heading and will be ultimately saved. Looking at Lipman is like watching a train wreck happening in slow motion. You know how it will end but wish that it wouldn’t…

    Hashem Yerachem.

  36. BS”D
    BY TFILAS HAAMIDA PRAY PRAY PRAY
    V’ HAZEIDIM MEHEIRO SEAKER, ISESHABER,ISEMAGER, ISECHALEM, V’SASHPILEM V’SACHNIEM,
    BBA

  37. Kol Hakavod for exposing this politician for the liberal, fen=minist, anti torah learning, ignormaus he is. i mean, to call Dovid Hamelech a “guy”?! Is he nuts?

  38. Ummmm…was this meant to be negative? I don’t see a problem with anything he says. Makes perfect sense to me!

  39. Lipman joins all the others, like Open Orthodox people, who don’t believe in daas Torah

    Korach also ddidn’t believe in daas Torah and spat at Moshe Rabbeinu

  40. There was absolutely no reason to put the comment about shaking hands with a woman. Especially as the number one comment !!

    That has nothing to do with his policies. He could have a personal weakness and this is the way he is expressing it. Posting the comment was shameful !!

  41. i do not know if lipman is a bigger rosha or a bigger fool a rasha is apparent his anti torah and anti halachah comments above but that he doesn realize he is being used, and as soon as his usefulness expires he will be disposed of like yesterdasys shee’rayim. An emese shoita

  42. “He claims to be worried about chareidim” That phrase is taken straight out of Lapid’s handbook. I read many of Lapids articles, and he is definitely as smooth talker, but any one with half a brain can see him as a Wolf in Sheep skin. And I took him to task about it, in many Comments/TalkBacks. But unfortunately, many frum Jews are becoming disillusioned/disoriented and fall off the side, to be picked up by people like Lapid. When, WE due do, what WE have to do, HaKodesh Boruch Hu, Will do the REST.

  43. Where are Dov Lipman’s quotes on whether the age gap is to blame for the so called shidduch crisis?
    Age gap sounds like something he would invent

  44. Trick question:

    What’s the difference between:

    1) Dov Lipman
    2) Korach Vaadaso
    3) Moses Mendelson
    4) Open Orthodoxy

  45. can we stop talking badly about other Jews? Even if we dont agree with him or anything that he is doing. Not because of Lashon Hara, but just because we are all Jews.

  46. lipman tries to waltz in a horse like a hero.
    He aint no hero. And he wont accomplish a THING! he’s all talk, with no backing up what he says. How do you spell empty suit?

  47. Thank you Matzav for your courageous reporting of Dov Lipman’s dangerous Anti Torah Hashkafos and radical positions.

  48. Context of his comments important, and it is fair to ask who his Torah mentors are that back his thinking and ideas.

    Still, these comments suggest an attitude about change and about religious and secular societal problems in Israel that must be addressed.

  49. Dov Lipman certainly dosn’t represent anyone chareidi who respects Torah and Gedolai Yisroel. His agenda is essentially to curry favor from the secularists and the media. He is willing to compromise on the fundamentals of Yahadus – full kabolas ol mitzvos and convert soldiers merly becuase they serve in the Israeli army. He has publicly been mevazeh in writing Rav Ovadia Yosef Shlita and Rav Aharon Leib Shtainaman Shlita. He is a shana upiresh an Apikorus (see Sanhedrin 99b). Yashar Koach to Matzav for exposing some of his radical statements and views.

  50. What puts Lipman out of the orthodox camp is that he advocates for a broader conversion policy with what he calls “other streams of Judaism.” To any bona-fide orthodox Jew, Reform/Conservativism is NOT a legitimate representive of Judaism. Anyone who recognizes a conversion done with reform or conservative “rabbis” as part of the beis din, (many who don’t believe in Hashem or that the Torah was given from Hashem), has no credence whatsoever. He has disqualified himself from lecturing to us, and we should not call him rabbi, either. Shame on him.

  51. If all of this was coming from the goyim we would do a din vecheshbon with ourselves and say that the Ribono Shel Olam isn’t happy with us. We would take a frum approach and say that they are just pawns in the hands of the almighty… like achashverosh.

    However, I really haven’t seen that approach at all right now. If you step back and think about it we have more Torah learning in Eretz Yisroel and Galus than we probably ever have. Yet the ribono shel olam allows his “pawns” in the guise of Yesh Atid to threaten the torah world. He is clearly not happy with us. … the reason seems so obvious… Sinas Chinam. .. we ashkenazim don’t like the sefardim..don’t want them in our schools..we negate anybody not like us… the dati leumi ..we don’t consider them religious because they believe in the state.. their rabbis aren’t even worthy of the kavod of calling them rabbi… so what if they are like us in practice 95% of the way.. it is that 5% that they aren’t like us and they are goyim.. I don’t think we need to go on… So the Rebono Shel Olam is taking his Torah back and saying we aren’t worthy…With Matan Torah days away.. maybe we should practice what we learn.

  52. You take quotes out of context and ascribe the most negative interpretations. Even if one agrees with the opponents of Rabbi Lipman, makking him into your fall guy is stupid.

  53. Dov Lipman is a radiacal left wing anti chareidi. The following is what he wrote in the Jerualem Post op-ed May 21,2012 in support of the WoW who wish to pray at the Kotel in Talis and Teffilin:
    “A brief overview of what the classic Torah sources say about women demands that the situation at the Kotel must change…. Women should have the freedom to do that which enables them to connect best to God if it conforms to halacha.

    Therefore, since according to Jewish law there is nothing wrong with a woman wearing a tallit, why are women not permitted to wear a tallit at the Kotel? It is correct that traditionally women have not worn them, but a woman violates no Jewish law when she does. Creating legislation forbidding women to wear a tallit simply because it rubs certain individuals the wrong way is not valid. Everyone should focus on their own prayers and not be concerned with how others connect to God. And, if men are the ones complaining, I must ask: Why are they looking at the women’s side of the partition anyway?

    The time has come for us to recognize that the State of Israel is a blessing from God which can be a unifying force for the Jewish people instead of a polarizing force. It should be a vehicle for embracing more people to connect to their Judaism instead of pushing them away from it. What I witnessed at the Kotel that night, and hearing about women being arrested for wearing a tallit while praying there, creates polarization and distancing without any Torah or rabbinic law having been transgressed.

    I hope all women view this as a call to action. If Jewish women have been praised throughout history for saving the day, perhaps it is time for women to end this madness as well.”
    In an article published on May 9th in Jerusalem Post he praised the formation of a coalition of Likud and Kadima as an oppurtunity to solve the what he percives as the most pressing problem facing Israel- the ultra orthodox and paints the entire chareidi community as fanatic extremists – “There is finally a government which does not need the ultra-Orthodox parties in its midst to survive. As a result, the most pressing problem in Israel can and must be addressed by this government in the next 17 months”.How are we in a situation as a country where the national responsibilities are not shared and tens of thousands, way more than can possibly be capable of studying Torah day and night, are exempt from service “because of their Torah study?”

    How do we have a situation where we are funding too many young men to study instead of creating a framework for them to study and earn a dignified living? How have we allowed a community to remain isolated to the point that extremism reared its ugly head against little children this past year?

    How have we allowed the rabbinate to become so extremist that instead of providing religious services and embracing all Jews, it actually pushes people away from religious practice and Jewish identity? It is because the ultra-Orthodox parties have been the king-makers for most coalitions over the past few decades and have been able to move their isolationist, extremist and self-serving agendas forward.

    Well, that is no longer the case. There is finally complete and total “coalition stability.” We now have a coalition which can do whatever it wants to do without regard to the ultra-Orthodox parties. If this government wants to do what is right, it can do so without any fears of Shas and/or United Torah Judaism bolting the coalition. They can be shown the door and perhaps feel the comfort of sitting in the opposition with the anti-Zionist Arab parties.”

  54. In July 1 2012 again in an po-ed in the jerusalem Post Dov trashed the Tal Law and the chareidi repesentatives in the knesset who are shluchei drabanan chosen by the Gedolai Hador to represent the Torah community
    “The situation in which tens of thousands of young men receive military exemptions to enable them to exclusively study Torah is no longer acceptable to the rest of the country.”
    “Of course, politics involves some degree of compromise. I believe that most of the country can understand a two-year deferral of the draft to enable a boy to study Torah until age 20 and to then serve the country. I also know that most of the country embraces the idea of community service. Can anyone argue that a yeshiva boy studying full time for two years and then continuing his studies while volunteering in a local hospital or helping the elderly is contrary to Torah values? That is compromise.

    Even the most secular leaders even accept the idea of an elite group to focus exclusively on Torah study. The average haredi on the street understands and embraces these compromises.

    In fact, many are waiting for the government to step in and free them from the current system. Therefore, the legislation which seems to be taking shape to replace the Tal Law is simply giving in to an extremist minority for reasons beyond understanding.

    LET’S BE clear. By caving on this issue, Netanyahu, who no doubt knows that haredim not serving is wrong and not representative of Torah values, is proving that he is not “the chief authority over a country and people.” Rather, Moshe Gafni from the extremist Degel Hatorah party and Eli Yishai from the Shas party are the chief authorities here.

    Similarly, he does not “preside over or rule.” Yishai and Gafni call the shots. And, finally, he is not the “ruler of an independent state” since we no longer appear to be an independent state.

    Rather, we are a people stuck under the totalitarian rule of religious extremists who believe that leaving yeshiva to serve in the IDF is akin to murder, idolatry and adultery, as Eli Yishai recently proclaimed. Gafni and Yishai have proven that they not only hold an absolute monarch- and despot- like stranglehold over their own communities, but also over our entire country.”
    His sinas chachomim knows no bounds

  55. Some more radical statements Dov has published
    in the Times of Israel Jan 8 2013 titled “Shas’s Racism a much needed wake up call” he writes
    “There is far more that we can and must do to welcome people of Jewish ancestry back into our nation. I hope this racist and hate-filled Shas commercial awakens the entire country to the depth of the problem and that we rally together to do something about it.

    At least 300,000 Russian immigrants whose mothers are not Jewish but have a Jewish father or grandfather, currently reside in Israel. They serve in the IDF, study in mainstream Israeli schools, speak Hebrew, and socialize with all other Israeli children. A high percentage of them want to convert to Judaism but have been met with resistance from the Israeli Rabbinate which questions their level of commitment to religious observance, which they consider a prerequisite for conversion according to Orthodox law.

    “It must be stated in the clearest of terms that according to traditional Jewish law not only can we allow their conversions but we must convert them.

    According to Orthodox Jewish law, those without a Jewish mother are not Jewish. But those who come from Jewish descent actually fall into a unique category called “zera Yisrael.” According to some of the most prominent medieval sages, this designation means that while they are not Jewish, they are closely connected to the Jewish people and this impacts their conversion status. Rabbi Tzadok Hacohen Rabinowitz of 19th-century Lublin,Poland, explains that Isaiah referred to these “zera Yisrael” when he described the “lost ones” who would rejoin the Jewish people through conversion upon our return to our homeland.

    Shas and others on the religious extreme mock the notion of converting these immigrants because they don’t commit to fulfilling all the commandments. The problem with this is that a demand that a convert commit to fulfill ALL the commandments is a modern development. The Talmudic sages never demanded this. The Talmud clearly requires only that we teach conversion candidates “some lenient and some strict commandments” prior to accepting them for conversion.

    These immigrants from the former Soviet Union who want to convert agree to fast on Yom Kippur, to refrain from eating leavened bread on Passover, to recite the Kiddush prayer and light the candles on Shabbat night, and for those in the IDF, to risk their lives to protect the Jewish state (what greater mitzvah can there be?). The classic texts are replete with sources permitting the conversions of these zera Yisrael immigrants based on their intention to observe these basic commandments.”

    It is shocking that he considers himself an Orthodox Jew and can condone and promote fictitous Geirus – a conversion without complete Kabolas Ol Mitzvos is meaningless as the Rambam clearly states and as is accepted by all major Halachik Authorities.
    In the same peice he writes “There is a lot on the line in the upcoming election. Let this racist, despicable Shas television commercial be a wake-up call to everyone. Despite certain parties portraying themselves as warm, embracing, open, and doing what is best for Judaism and Jewish values in Israel, they would actually form an extremist, fanatic, homophobic, and racist leaning government which ignores the most basic of Jewish values – free will.”
    His condenmnation of mainstream chareidim as fanatics and homophobic is blatent slander.

  56. Things are getting a little crazy. He is misled. Look at the gemara in brachos when Rav meir wanted to daven that reshaim get destroyed who made fun of Torah. His wife said why don’t you Daven they should do Teshuva and he did and they cam back. he is wrong and is misled perhaps even by Kavod or just thinking he’s right. Many people fell into traps and then came out of it I believe he can do the same We need to daven for him and his family. I think he has a great heart and his Kochos can be used for the opposite just imagine him in Hashems side.

  57. Yashar Koach to Matzav for exposing Lipman’s Anti- Chareidi views and statements. There are more offensive statements that were ommittecd regarding Geirus, public buses on Shabbos, The Woumen at the Wall etc. We must continue to expose his false ideas show his true beliefs.
    Hopefully the Tzibbur of Balei Batim in America will realize his aims and disassociate from him.

  58. It’s pretty pathetic that’ someone spent the time compiling all this together. It also shows how vile and pagum the author is and all the commenters as well. Lipman might be wrong but all of you are worse.

  59. Dov Lipman has crossed all boundaries that separate frum G-D fearing Jews from the non religious world. His “mentor in all of this”(his words) Yesh Atid MK Micki Levi branded all chareidim as parasites, I havn’t heard a word of condemnation from Dov or any other Yesh Atid MK’s of such despicable hateful remarks. The only thing Dov likes to mention is that he is working for “unity” which is really a code word for demanding that the chareidim should become chiloni or Dati Leumi and then there will be unity. His intolerance and lack of respect for the Chareidi Torah world in Eretz Yisroel is apparent to all.Yashar Koach to Matzav for setting the record straight.

  60. i call upon everyone who stands up for the torah and its gedolim to go on dov limpans facebook and show our protest!!!

  61. Dov Lipman is espousing Conservative Judaism – his ideas that normative halacha (The Rama paskens explicitly that women shouldn’t wear Tallis and Tefillin) yet he refers to this common practice as a “stringency” is plain am haaratzus. His argument that “if men are the ones complaining, I must ask: Why are they looking at the women’s side of the partition anyway”(which he wrote this in an article in the Jerusalem Post in may 2012 and reiterated it in the Knesset) is utter nonsense. 1. The WoW make sure their picture is on the front page of the newspapers no one is looking at the other side of the mechitza. 2. The behavior of the Women at the Wall is offensive to the thousands of orthodox men and women who daven daily at the Kotel, and the women who find it offensive are on the womens side of the mechitza. 3. The introduction of Reform and Coservative practices to the site of the Kosel HaMaaravi which has the status of a Beis Haknesses is a bizayon Beis Haknesses and Bizayon Hamikdosh.
    Yashar koach to “a Concerned Orhtodox Jew” for posting Lipman’s comments on this issue.

  62. Lipman Quoted:
    “It is wrong for us to legislate anyone having to get married according to halacha. The rabbinate needs to be far more embracing.

    Dov Lipman commenting on civil marriages in Israel, The Jerusalem Post, January 24, 2013

    How can he call himself a Rabbi when he advocates civil marriage and condones not following Halacha?

  63. The ‘Sleeping giant’ is beginning to waken

    and we see the ever present (so called modox) antagonists are sounding alternatively scared and shrill

  64. #80 – orthodox Jew: You wrote a lot of words, but seem to make yourself very unclear. It is obvious Lipman is a trojan horse, who wants to be seen as a chareidi, but is really working for the other side. The WOW are nothing but a feminist political group who have an agenda of undoing Torah in Israel and have even admitted so in interviews broadcast by BBC and others. There is nothing more to say about this whole debacle but that the infiltration of Yesh Atid with a phony Bayit Yehudi are speeding ahead with their agenda to secularize the “Jewish” state. This is a fact,which should be obvious to anyone who reads and keeps up with the news.

  65. Kol Hakavod to Matzav.com for showing whom we are really dealing with hear. The reason matzav.com is matzliach is because they stand up for the torah

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