At the end of July, during a trip to Israel, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee met with Orthodox rabbis and community members in Bnai Brak, including Lithuanian Haredi leader Rabbi Dov Landau. This was the first meeting between Haredi leaders and Huckabee.
During the 25-minute conversation, Landau, speaking through a translator, brought up the issue of Haredim serving in the IDF, saying, “Please tell [the ambassador] that the Jewish people live and endure thanks to the Torah. The yeshiva students are our defenders. Their role and honor must be protected… Please, tell President Trump to work for the Torah world. The Jewish people live and exist by virtue of the Torah. Torah scholars are the protectors, and their status must be preserved and their value sanctified.”
Huckabee replied, “In addition to soldiers, we need Torah scholars, who will remind us who you are and why you are here.”
According to Rabbi Dovid Hofstedter, who organized the meeting, the overriding objective was to find common ground among the ambassador and the Haredim.
“I thought it was very important that the ambassador not only meet with the secular community, but also the Haredi community, which is a vital and central part of Israel that he had no knowledge of,” Hofstedter, the founder of Dirshu, the world’s largest Torah organization, said. “Ambassador Huckabee greatly values and cherishes the Bible and the Torah and those who study them. Sometimes you need someone from outside to shine the light on what’s inside. Sometimes we live in our own darkness and four walls and don’t see what’s inside. It was very enlightening for the Jewish world at large to see how much Ambassador Huckabee respects learning Torah and Torah leaders of our community.”
While in Israel, Hofstedter also took Huckabee to meet with Rabbi Moshe Hillel Hirsch, the rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Slabodka in Bnei Brak, another big leader in the Haredi world. They discussed the critical importance of Torah learning as well.
According to Hofstedter, the son of Holocaust survivors, the ambassador understands the fact that many issues stem from a lack of spiritual awareness happening in the world.
“Currently, there are all kinds of issues facing the Jewish people. It’s a very trying time. I’ve never seen the situation as threatening and precarious situation for the Jewish people. Antisemitism is unfortunately rearing its ugly head all over. There are ways to combat it, and the ambassador has a unique view which aligns with the view of the ultra-Orthodox: most antisemitism stems from the fact that people don’t respect and believe in the Torah and the Bible and the commandments.”
The rabbi has known Huckabee for a few years and has seen just how supportive he is of the Jewish people and Israel. “He feels that the security of the world also depends on the security of the Jewish people,” said Hofstedter. “He sees the Divine Hand in the rebirth of the Jewish nation following the Holocaust.”
Now that the ambassador is acquainted with the Haredi community and its needs, Hofstedter said that the conversation can keep moving forward.
“There is so much room for dialogue and working together. We hope it will continue.”
