MK Dov Lipman Blasted After Saying Bochurim Should Clean Israel’s Streets

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 dov-lipmanYesh Atid MK Dov Lipman was slammed this week by chareidi parties after he suggested that yeshiva students, during their Pesach break, should help clean Israel’s streets as an act of chesed.  

One of the main points of criticism against Lipman was that he should not be telling others to clean streets unless he sets a personal example and does so himself. Ultimately it was revealed in a photo that Lipman had indeed done this last year.

The row between Lipman and the hareidim began when the MK was driving home from the Knesset and saw yeshiva boys from all backgrounds hiking and enjoying themselves during their vacation. This got him thinking that he should look into organized chesed activities for these yeshiva boys during the vacation.
The next morning, during an early morning jog in the city of Beit Shemesh, MK Lipman saw three older men, each over the age of 70, working hard to clean the streets. He then thought it would be nice to see yeshiva boys pitching in to help out in that realm and in other ways, which led to him posting the following on Facebook as an example of an act of chesed that yeshiva boys can do during these days:

“I saw three street sweepers – all aged 70 and above,” wrote Lipman. “I thought to myself – why can”t yeshiva students use their vacation time to voluntarily help these old people and give them a little freedom, or at least ease their work a little? Just a thought.”

The post received hundreds of likes and shares but also hundreds of critics, some of whom said that Lipman was disgracing yeshiva students by suggesting that they clean the streets and asking why he is not asking secular youth to clean the streets as well.

One of the respondents to the post was MK Yaakov Asher (United Torah Judaism), who said, “I suggest that first of all MK Lipman set a personal example by using the Knesset recess to volunteer and sweep the streets of Beit Shemesh. In addition, I suggest he sweep the chareidi public off his agenda and take care of the youth who his party represents.”

MK Lipman explained in response, both on Facebook as well as on several hareidi radio programs, that he sees cleaning the streets of Israel as a merit and not as disgraceful, adding that cleaning the streets was only brought as an example and that there are many other methods of chesed that yeshiva boys can carry out.
Lipman also pointed out that he did not mean only chareidim but yeshiva boys from all backgrounds.

People continued to press MK Lipman, asking why he doesn’t practice what he preaches, at which point a Beit Shemesh resident posted a picture, taken by a passerby, of MK Lipman cleaning the streets of Beit Shemesh last year without asking for any press.

Following the incident, MK Lipman said, “I certainly learned from this that we have a lot of work to do in education if people think it is a disgrace for yeshiva boys to helper older men clean the streets of Israel – education about honoring the elderly, education about chesed, and education about the value of Eretz Yisrael.

“I actually think that we should consider legislating specific days in which students from all backgrounds – religious and secular – do acts of kindness,” he said. “This would unite the country around the core Jewish value of chesed.”

Source: ARUTZ SHEVA

{Matzav.com Israel}


43 COMMENTS

  1. I thought israel was a free country? How can a government dictate what a citizen does on his free time?! This man is an idiot!:

  2. THE MATZAV TODAY

    When all the Yidden are living according to the Torah the atmosphere in the world is one of harmony, peace, and tranquility. When they live their lives in Sheker, there is turmoil, distress, pain, conflict and disunity among brothers. This is our choice. It is black and white; either, or. We make the decision. Yes, yes.

    All Jews no matter where they are must return to their Father in Heaven. They must show Him who is their G-d, who is their Creator. Yes. Must show Him that they believe it deep in their hearts and nothing will shake it. No fears, no threats. It has to be a steadfast bitachon in Hashem that is immovable under any condition.

    Jews, wake up. It’s your last chance. Now or never. No time to waste. War or peace, turmoil or tranquility, upheaval or harmony. It’s your choice. Do something together. Make a demonstration of devotion and maybe Hashem will change the Gezeira. No time to waste, Now. In history, there were many Tekufot of persecution and tzarot for Yidden. There were many times of uneasiness and terror. They were times when Hashem concealed his attention to us. They were times when Yidden felt that Hashem had deserted them. But really he was with them all the time. His presence couldn’t be felt because no one was attuned to it. They were far-removed from him.

    Now in our times in this tekufa of Purim he is hidden from us. That is because we are in need of true teshuva. Not the kind people are doing today. It is a teshuva that we today have not yet accomplished.

    Teshuva amitit is: ONE — accomplished when one is totally immersed in his avodah, in Hashem’s Derech. It is total devotion to Hashem in Shamayim and Bitachon that whatever He does is for our good. Teshuva accomplished with these things in mind has to be Teshuva amitit. The problem today is that the preconceived ideas that people use as a prerequisite to their Teshuva destroys that Teshuva. Then it is no longer Teshuva amitit and therefore doesn’t bring the geula that we wait for with such longing.

    When one is about to begin his journey to true Teshuva one has to rid himself of all old baggage, all the old ideas that one has carried with him through one’s lifetime, and start accumulating new valuable acquisitions that one can get from our former talmidei chachamim in their holy writings. There are all kinds of very important works written by Tzadikim that help us realize who really is running this world. One does not have to be a Talmid Chacham to read these works. There is much written today in English as well that translates to us laymen the Sodot Haolam.

    Number TWO: is to learn Halacha. We must know the correct way to do the mitzvot that we do anyway, but don’t do right. All of us do averot beshogeg because we don’t know halacha. We must all learn the fundamental basics of our Torah. One cannot be a good Jew without this. It doesn’t come naturally to us like it did to Avraham Avinu. We must learn the halachot in order to do the mitzvot.

    Number THREE: All good Yidden must get rid of all negative feelings against his fellow Jew. One cannot do true Teshuva with negative feelings in one’s heart against another Yid. Yidden must love one another. No choice. It is a commandment in our holy Torah. Just like eating kosher or putting on Tefillin. No difference. If one has difficulty with this, our Chachamim have also set down guidelines how to accomplish this. One must work on this with the same diligence one works on his concentration in davening or any other mitzva that comes with difficulty. The feeling of accomplishment when one has conquered this is enormous.

    Number FOUR is Chesed. That is a Yesod in our behavior with our fellow Jew; the way we behave with our friend is the way Hashem will behave with us. Mida Kneged Mida. We set the tone. Practice the love of your fellow Jew when doing Chesed. It is easier to do Chesed with one you love than one that disgusts you. When one has acquired love for all Jews then Chesed comes easier.

    Number FIVE: Teshuva amitit needs Tefila. Tefila with a broken heart for Hashem to accept our Tefilos . Hashem waits for His children to Daven. He wants to hear our cries of anguish so that he can answer them with his kindness. Even Moshe Rabeinu had to ask Hashem to forgive His children in the Midbar after the çèà äòâì. It wasn’t enough to just think those things. He had to plead with a broken heart for forty days before Hashem forgave His children.

    Number SIX is Emunah in Hashem that all comes from Him. This comes as a result of true Torah observance. It comes as a result of true Mitzva doing. It is the vehicle to bring us to true Emunah in Hashem. When one is on a path of Teshuva, Emunah is a must. If not, then there will be many setbacks to trip him. But with Emunah he will push forward no matter what obstacles come in his way.

    Number SEVEN: Yidden must be aware of their surroundings at all times. No Traifos in the air. No Devarim Asurim influencing their delicate make up. Outside influences have a definite negative effect on a holy Jew. We must always protect our surroundings and guard that no tumah seeps in.

    Now for number EIGHT. No Jew can accomplish true Teshuva without learning Hilchot Teshuva. Again there are many Sefarim written on this subject. It is very important to know the Halachot of Teshuva. Whole Sefarim were written for this purpose. Use the direction of our holy Tzadikim to guide us through the steps of Teshuva.

    Now number NINE is love of Hashem. Love of Hashem comes through his Mitzvos as well. But the difference here (between this and acquiring Emunah is that in loving Hashem one must acknowledge that he is our Father, and loves us as a father loves a son, with no hesitation, no question, no interference, only true love of a parent to a child. Then we can return His love in the same way we get it. Without it being attached to the things we get. One can love Hashem out of poverty. One can love Hashem out of sickness. One can love Hashem even when one doesn’t see the end of his Tzarot. One must love Hashem no matter what one gets from Him. It is not Tolui in anything. Only in his own conviction to be devoted to the One who has created us and given us life.

    Number TEN is Simcha. Without Simcha there is no life worth living. It is void of all the things that Hashem has created us for. Simcha in one’s heart comes from the awareness that Hashem is our Creator, our Lover our Benefactor and He is devoted to no one else but His children here. The whole world was created for us. The Torah was created for us. This awareness should bring us to such joy that we should be able to dance from morning to night. With Simcha one can conquer anything, even one’s own heart. With Simcha we can accomplish true Teshuva and bring Moshiach in the fastest way possible.

  3. He’s not a bad guy and his comment wasn’t wrong. Either he was misquoted or it was nastilly reported – the latter is more likely. Why should they not help out? Shouldn’t all bochurim and girls be expected to help? After all isn’t that the reason for Bein Hazmanim? At least then! Gosh! What was Lipman’s big sin???

  4. dear and anyone else before you consider telling chareidim how to live their lives, consider your reaction if THEY attemp to tell you how live as a proper jew and if you think it is none of their business than expect that they probably feel the same way

  5. In my neighborhood this was done last year. All the students off from yeshiva went down the street with bags and cleaned for Pesach.

    Its a pretty normal thing to do. This is an eretz hakodesh, how dare we disrespect it with garbage or litter?

    This year I didn’t see any signs posted so I did some of my block myself. If we want our children to be gomley chasadim and appreciate all the gifts H gives to them, we have to lead by example.

  6. The Nazis forced religious Jews to do the same. The hatred of Lapid’s party towards religious Jews is the strongest form of racism. Lapid is using someone who looks religious for these Nazi suggestions.

    Would he have the nerve to tell the chilonim to clean Israel’s street during their break?

  7. Charedim are the strongest in chessed. If anything, it’s the secular who have to learn chessed from chareidim. Can any secular group compete with Satmar or chareidim?

  8. Chaim Y do you realize how silly youre atetement is are you for real just mentioning or comparing the situation to natzi like behaviour is absolutely unnacceptable youre vicious writing is vile and repugnant as a jew you should be ashamed of youreself for the infantile attitude you exhibit,youre perverted thinking is the exact opposite of a rational persons thinking cleanning the streets should be an honour and a mitzva to anyone who does it not an insult the way you protray it to be shame shame on you.

  9. Maybe if they do not comply with needs in the military they can at least do some community service if that is necessary. His words are not kindly received but there may be some agitation that needs to be addressed.

  10. Chilonim have off before Pesach too and unlike Chareidi men and boys many of the Chilonim don’t clean their homes for Pesach. Cleaning the streets would be a perfect job for them, esp. for the Tel Aviv draft dodgers. But from Lapid the Chareidi hater what can you expect?

  11. #3 ok Einstein if you say so…Do you listen to orders what to do on your “break”???
    Remember that Torah learning upholds Eretz Yisroel, & that s/t a break is needed to recharge one’s batteries… but then again it’s time for the Chareidi haters , the bashers, to come out of the woodwork.

  12. Lipman is condescending to Talmidei Yeshiva and has nothing positive to say ever about Charedim although in his eyes chilonim who want to uproot yidishkeit are “sincere in their understanding of judaism”(his words about Yair Lapid). He is according to Chazal an Apikorus(see gemara sanhedrin Daf 99b “Apikores zeh hamevaze Talmid Chochom…Apikores Kegon Hani Deamri Mai Ahani Lan Rabanan”. Like every other classic politician he is never wrong and won’t apologize for an insensitive stupid remark but will try to prove how he is a “Tzaddik”. Anyone who scrutinizes the picture can clearly tell he was just posing and not cleanind any sidewalks from litter.

  13. Matzav, close this web site it’su wrong to provide news service its not pics of woman or kfira that makes sec media bad its the persut of entertainment and news thats wrong with them.

  14. #12 Yes there are groups outside of Satmar or Charedim that excell in CHesed.

    The groups that care for disabled, sick children and filled with Modern Orthodox teens that are involved 24/7. How about reposting that no NATION CAN COMPARE WITH THE CHESED OF THE JEWISH NATION?

  15. Many B’nai Torah do lots of chessed.
    I think that the great amout of chessed that has yet to be done needs organization to get done.

  16. To nos 5&8: I actually went to yeshiva in America 20+ yrs ago with Dov. He is a nice likeable fellow who is also idealistic. #8:He’s not to be feared as a clever cunning fox as he was right at average intelligence-wise. He means well, is new at politics and people are just seizing the chance to harp on him. He’s one of the good guys, pls don’t mistake him otherwise.

  17. I live in New York, and have some finance business which lets me see Tax returns of individuals. Amongst them Charedim and secular Jews. The amount of charity given by Charedi jews exceeds those of secular Jews 100 times. Charity is considered Chesed to support others which are in need. These facts can be tested and any poll would prove this. Why brain wash the public with wrong facts, better learn from some charedim the nature of chesed.

  18. I think that the times we live in require politicians to say outrageous statements to get attention. on the other hand…its not a bad idea to get teams of people to clean up the Catskills in the summer so that people will see that we are not that bad after all…..

    Its annoying to find heimishe trash allover the area….

  19. Lipman is an Apikoros. No question. Anyone that sticks up for him either has “too much” ahavas yisroel which causes them to misdirect it or they may actually hate the Torah. The litmus test is if they are “pro-Lipman and pro-Chareidi” or “pro-Lipman and anti-Chareidi”.

  20. The fact that Mr. Lipmann joined the wicked Lapid/Piron, shows that he has fallen from the proper path & should be ignored.

  21. Anyone who lives in Israel knows how degrading such a proposal is. That is Israeli culture.Why are the street cleaners 70 years old? Because no one else will do the job, even foreign workers! Only someone who devoted his life to this profession, meaning he isn’t capable of doing anything else, would agree to clean the streets. A street cleaner in Israel is like the proverbial “borsaki”, leather tanner.
    Even people who think that learning Torah is not enough, to “help the country” MUST have minimal respect for people of other communities.
    What he himself did in the picture is on a highway and not comparable at all to “cleaning the streets”.

  22. Is Lipman offering to pay Yeshiva students what those who sweep the streets get paid (with pensions factored in)?Is he offering them any municipal jobs other then street cleaning?Are the Seventy year old people doing it now being forced by necessity to do it?Does he also feel college students should also be sweeping between semesters?ETC

  23. In the picture I don’t see anyone cleaning up the streets. All I see is Lipman’s dog taking him for a walk…

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